A Phoniex Rises
by reviewgirl911
Summary: It's been sixteen years since Voldemort was defeated by infant Harry Potter and ten since he went missing. Voldemort has returned, and the wizarding world's future is bleak. What happens when Harry Potter is found alive and different than expected?
1. Harry Potter, Pain-in-the-Ass

** Hey! It's reviewgirl911! This is my first HP story and I'm super worried and excited at the same time. Fantasy is not my strong point, and I want to make J.K. Rowling proud. So please take it easy on me! Reviews are always appreciated! **

**Summary: It's been sixteen years since Voldemort was defeated by infant Harry Potter and ten since Harry Potter went missing. Voldemort has returned, and the wizarding world's future is looking bleak. What happens when Harry Potter is found alive and way different than any of them ever thought he would be? Will he cooperate with Dumbledore? What secrets are in his past? Read to find out!**

Albus Dumbledore sighed. It had been a long year at Hogwarts, and things were only bound to get worse from there. Voldemort had returned, and though the Ministry had finally admitted his return, they weren't any more helpful than before. Dolores Umbridge was still High Inquisitor at Hogwarts since Fudge wanted to make sure the students' loyalty was to the Ministry and not to Dumbledore. And there was the issue of Harry Potter.

No one but Dumbledore knew how Harry Potter had been able to defeat Lord Voldemort as an infant, but it didn't stop them for viewing the child as a hero. For that reason, the headmaster had placed him in the care of his Muggle relatives in order to shield him from the fame, leaving a letter to explain the situation for his aunt. Though Professor McGonagall had expressed doubts about placing him there, Dumbledore had reassured her that it was the best place for him. Unfortunately, the old wizard had been wrong. When Harry was six, he had disappeared from Privet Drive. No one knew where he had gone or what had happened. Surprisingly, his relatives hadn't seemed that concerned, shooing away anyone from the Ministry who came to question him. Though there was a full-scale investigation, Harry was never found. The wizarding world went on with their lives, mourning the young hero they had lost.

_I've made so many mistakes, _Dumbledore thought to himself. And he had. There had been the issue of the Potter's Secret-Keeper and Sirius's imprisonment, not to mention Harry's disappearance. He was snapped out of his thoughts, however, when a young Auror entered his office. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, we've found him," the young man said urgently. Dumbledore stood up.

"Found whom?" he asked lowly.

"Harry Potter, sir," the Auror answered excitedly. Dumbledore stood up and followed the young man. Thoughts swirled around in his head. One thing was for sure. Both he and the rest of the wizarding world were in for a nasty shock.

This was probably one of the worst days of Harry's life. Not only was he stopped from finishing a delivery but there were also a bunch of Ministry baboons questioning him about his whereabouts for the last ten years. He stayed silent, smirking and occasionally rolling his eyes. Harry didn't trust authority figures as a general rule. In fact, he never trusted anyone on principle. He had known since he was ten that people left and betrayed you. It was best to limit your trust to a select few.

"I'm going to ask this again, Potter. Where have you been?" Amelia Bones questioned her face exasperated. Harry was different than she had expected. Lily had been a gentle soul, and James, though arrogant at times, was also charming and personable. Harry was like acid, sharp and stinging. There was something old about him, however, that gave him her pity. His eyes had shadows, like he'd seen too many horrors by the simple age of sixteen. Still, the boy absolutely refused to answer any questions, only giving them the occasional shrug or smirk.

Harry just stared off into space. He was waiting for something, okay, someone to be more specific. When the Aurors had their backs turned, he had sent Hedwig with a note saying where he was to Tess. The black-haired teenager suspected she'd be here soon. The doors opened, and Harry saw Albus Dumbledore and one of the Aurors walk in. He narrowed his bright green eyes at the aging wizard. Fiona had told him he was the reason Harry had been placed with the Dursleys. His mind flashed back to a life before he ran off and found a safe haven in Fiona's house.

"_We'll out of here one day, Harry, I promise," a soft voice exclaimed. _Harry shook his head. It was useless to think of the past now. You have to live day by day, he reminded himself.

Dumbledore observed the boy carefully. Harry's hair was long and shaggy, his jeans worn out and a leather coat over his white t-shirt. His intense bright green eyes seemed to pierce him. _Lily's eyes,_ Dumbledore mentally reminded himself. The old professor was surprised by how old the boy seemed, much older and wiser than he should be. He wondered what Harry had been through in his live to have those shadows in his eyes.

"Mr. Potter," Ms. Bones said. "If you do not cooperate with our investigation, I will have no choice but to force the truth out of you." Harry narrowed his eyes at her. Amelia Bones was a no-nonsense kind of woman, he knew from his sources. If she had something to use on him, she would've done it already.

"And I would have no choice but report you to the Ministry for violating my rights. You can only give me Veritaserum during a full trial, which this clearly isn't," Harry shot back. He mentally thanked all the Slytherins he worked for in Knockturn Alley for making sure he knew his wizarding rights. Of course, if she did decide to use Veritaserum on him, it wouldn't really be a problem. Harry was a skilled Occlumens.

Amelia sighed. She could already tell this boy was smart and cunning. She was reminded of both Sirius Black and Severus Snape. Harry had the dangerously good looks Sirius had possessed before Azakban and the sarcasm and cynicism of the Potions professor. She would never admit it, but the former Hufflepuff couldn't wait for the Hogwarts staff to meet him. Amelia wanted to see what they'd make of him. She sensed great potential and power along with coldness and damage. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a girl appeared in the room. The girl was brown-haired and extraordinarily beautiful with bright blue eyes and a sly smile, dressed in Muggle clothes.

Harry looked over at his friend. "Took you long enough," he snorted. Amelia Bones and Dumbledore exchanged a surprised look. The jab was almost... affectionate.

Tess glared at him. "I just got your note five minutes ago. I packed our stuff and made my way here," she stated.

"Where you followed?" Harry asked. Tess rolled her eyes. Harry was paranoid to the worst degree.

"No," she replied casually. "And no news from anyone," she added before Harry could ask her.

"Mr. Potter, who is this?" Amelia asked Harry suspiciously. She didn't know how the girl had entered the castle, and it made her curious.

The girl smiled at her. "Tess McKinnon," she introduced herself. "And I'm guessing you're Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." She looked over at Dumbledore. "And you're Albus Dumbledore."

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Harry snapped.

"Well, some of us have manners. We all can't be Mr. Cool-Broody guy," she shot back with a smirk.

"And may I ask how you got into the castle, Miss McKinnon?" Dumbledore questioned with a twinkle in his eyes. He had a feeling this girl could be the key to getting to know Harry.

"A house-elf serving here," Tess answered cautiously, not wanting to get Dobby in trouble. Dumbledore seemed to accept this answer. Harry gave her a quick nod of approval.

"Miss McKinnon, how do you know Mr. Potter?" Amelia questioned.

Harry and Tess exchanged a tense look. "He's my best friend," she answered. "I've known him since I was eight. We survive together."

"How did you two meet?" Dumbledore asked curiously. He had a feeling this girl could help him figure out the enigma that was Harry Potter.

Tess glared at the old coot, as Harry so aptly named him. "He rescued me," she stated vaguely.

"No guardians?" Amelia asked, looking at both teenagers. Tess avoided her gaze, looking at Harry, but the black-haired teenager kept her gaze. His look seemed to say 'I'll fuck with you if you fuck with me.'

Tess shook her head. "My parents died in a Death Eater attack six years ago." She didn't mention Fiona and Phineas, mostly due to Harry's warning look.

Amelia waited for Harry to answer. He just stared at her. The head of the DMLE sighed. "How long have you been on your own?" the Hufflepuff questioned. Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to answer any of their questions. The Ministry had already made his life hard enough as it was.

Tess rolled her eyes. Harry never trusted authority figures, and the fact that this woman was a Ministry worker made things even worse. The black-haired boy had hated the Ministry ever since their friend had been unjustly thrown into Azakban for a crime he didn't commit a year ago. Of course, they had managed to get him out, but the friend hadn't been the same since. "Six years," she replied casually.

Amelia frowned, the numbers not adding up in her head. There was something they weren't telling her. Before either she or Dumbledore could ask another question, Harry interrupted. "Am I free to go?"

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Potter. You're a minor, and you should be in school," Amelia responded disapprovingly. Harry snorted.

"England's school system is crap," he stated bluntly. "Most British wizards couldn't find their own asses with a compass. You don't teach warding, Muggle defense, or healing, all of which are things that Death Eaters utilized in the last war. Half of the useful gray spells are outlawed for being too dark. Your average 6th Defense student would get their asses kicked by a 3rd year student at Dumstrang."

Dumbledore's jaw dropped. Tess held back a giggle. That sounded like the Harry she knew, or at least she used to know. These days, she didn't know which one she'd get: the quiet, brooding Harry, the out for revenge Harry, or the normal Harry she had always known. Tess remembered a time in their lives when there had only been one Harry, one who'd laughed more and been able to see the good side of things, people. The two friends had been forced to grow up quickly, but Harry had bared the heaver of the burdens so that she wouldn't have to. It had, however, came at the price of his childhood, his innocence.

Tess changed the subject. "I'm hungry. Is there food in this place?" Harry shot her a look which she ignored. Dumbledore smiled. This would give him a chance to probe deeper into Harry's mind. And so the two nomads headed to the Great Hall with Dumbledore, unsure of what would happen next. All they knew was that the Hogwarts staff was in for a bit of a shock.


	2. Meeting the Staff

**Thanks for the wonderful reviews! Very appreciated! Enjoy the next chapter!**

Minerva McGonagall tapped her fingers nervously on the table. All of the professors and the Order had been summoned to the Great Hall by Dumbledore. The message was that he had important news to share. Just the cryptic message alone worried her. Whatever the Headmaster had to tell them couldn't be good.

"Nervous, Minerva?" Severus Snape asked with his trademark smirk. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him.

"And you should be to," she reprimanded. "Dumbledore wouldn't call this meeting unless it was important." Snape said nothing, knowing that the Deputy Headmistress was right. Dumbledore wouldn't call an unnecessary meeting. He just hoped it wasn't another meeting about Umbridge. The head of Slytherin had heard some alarming things about her dentitions from the members of his house.

Snape's thoughts were interrupted when Dumbledore entered the Great Hall with two teenagers following at a distance. The girl had long brown-hair and bright blue eyes with extraordinary beauty. The boy, on the other hand, had shaggy black hair and bright green eyes. He was a few inches taller than the girl but not immensely muscular. Snape looked more closely at the boy. Those green eyes, he realized, were Lily's. That was Harry Potter. He looked over at Dumbledore in shock. Harry Potter had been missing for ten years. How had they found the boy?

Harry and Tess were arguing under their breaths as they followed Dumbledore. As the argument got more heated it became louder. "..Should've left while we still had the chance," Harry mumbled.

"They could have something to tell us," Tess argued. Harry snorted.

"There's nothing they know that we don't know or couldn't figure out on our own," he shot back.

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Maybe they could help us," she suggested. The completely skeptical look on Harry's face proved her point wrong.

"Tess, some of them work for the Ministry. Do I need to remind you of all the great things the Ministry's done for us lately?" Harry asked sharply much to the room's curiosity. Tess's expression turned dark. Her blue eyes seemed to dim at whatever memory Harry was referring to. She didn't want to think of all the horrors they'd been through, especially not the specific incident to which her best friend was referring.

"Just listen to what they have to say," Tess pleaded. Harry just sighed.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, calling the two teenager's attention to snap back to him. He turned to the Order. "Harry Potter and Tess McKinnon," he introduced. He turned back to the teenagers. "This is the Order of the Phoenix."

"We know," Harry replied curtly. Everyone turned and looked at him. This certainly wasn't the Harry Potter they had been expecting.

"And may I ask how you became familiar with us?" Dumbledore asked in the voice that always made everyone do what he wanted. Not surprisingly, it didn't work on Harry Potter.

"You can ask, but it doesn't mean I'll answer," Harry replied. He was very reluctant to share any of his past with anyone. As far as he was considered, the most valuable thing a person possessed was their memories.

Tess cut in. "Fiona told us," she answered quietly. Harry looked down at his boots, remembering the cheerful woman who'd taken them in.

"Fiona Matthews?" Mad-Eyed Moody interrupted, his glass eyes taking in the two teenagers. "No one's heard from her from her in ten years."

"Probably because she's been dead for six of them," Harry added harshly. Everyone's jaws dropped. Fiona had worked in the infirmary of Hogwarts until the first war and then became a healer for the Order. She was especially fond of James and Lily.

"Fiona's dead?" Madam Pomfrey cried in shock. Tess nodded gravely. Harry noticed this and squeezed her hand in comfort.

"How?" Kingsley questioned. Harry looked over at the African American auror, who was struck by the harshness of the kid's stare.

"Death Eater attack. Five of them surrounded the house," the black-haired boy answered quickly. That was one death he didn't want to go into extreme detail with.

"Phin died shortly after that," Tess added with a sad smile.

"Phineas Talbot?" Moody questioned. Tess nodded. She turned around and saw Snape.

"You're Severus Snape," she said in awe. "Stephanie told us about you."

"Stephanie Perkins?" the Potions professor questioned, thinking of the bright Ravenclaw he had taken a liking to. Tess nodded.

"She told us you were one her favorite teachers during our Potions lessons," she explained. "She and her husband have a little apothecary in Vertic Alley."

"Tess," Harry warned. She turned around and glared at him.

"What harm is telling them that?" Tess demanded with a fierce stance. Everyone in the room could tell it was a long standing argument between the two.

"It's not safe," Harry answered lowly. "You should know that by now."

"So we should just immediately distrust everyone we meet?" she shot back.

"Yes," Harry answered firmly, surprising many of the adults in the room. They had assumed that he wouldn't answer the question.

"So we shouldn't trust anyone?" Tess questioned. Harry didn't answer, but he didn't have to. She already knew his answer. Harry had had trust issues since the day she met him. It wasn't hard to see why. Almost everyone who he was supposed to trust had betrayed him, and everyone he had loved was taken away. That would be enough to suck the trusting nature out of anyone.

"Why don't we eat?" Mrs. Weasley suggested kindly. She could tell by both their faces that the teenagers were worn out and in desperate need of a good meal. Harry was much too scrawny for her liking, and Tess wasn't much better. Tess nodded and they both sat down. The Order sat at the table anxiously. They were looking forward to cracking the mystery known as Harry Potter. Dumbledore left briefly to send a message to Sirius and Remus that Harry had been found, knowing that Sirius would be anxious to meet his godson.

Tess moaned in enjoyment as she took a bite of her steak pie. "This so good," she commented, savoring the taste in her mouth. They'd been on the run so long she had forgotten what a proper meal was like. Harry rolled his eyes at her but secretly agreed. Unfortunately, Tess caught his eye roll. "What? We haven't had this good a meal since…" She couldn't finish the sentence. Talking about Fiona and Phin was painful enough. And then there was the name she couldn't even say without upsetting Harry.

"Since when?" Mrs. Weasley asked kindly, sensing a sensitive spot.

"Since Fiona died," Tess finished quickly.

"She was always a great cook," Dumbledore reminisced.

Tess nodded. "Yeah, she was." Harry sensed that his friend was on the verge of tears so he changed the subject.

"Stephanie's cooking isn't that bad," he lied. Stephanie couldn't cook to save her life. It was a good thing her and Thomas lived right next to the best pub in Vertic Alley.

Tess raised her graceful eyebrows. "Harry, the last time we ate there you chipped your tooth on one of her biscuits." Everyone in the room laughed at this.

Harry shrugged. "I managed to finish it."

"Only because we were starving that day," Tess shot back. "I believe I said I would've eaten rotten bread too." All the adults in the room looked worried by this comment. They had no idea how hard the two teenagers' lives had been and were anxious to find out.

"How long have you two known each other?" Tonks asked casually but cautiously. She was the only one brave enough to ask the question. Harry and Tess exchanged a look. Both knew they had to reveal as little as possible.

"Harry found me nearly frozen to death on the streets when we were eight," Tess explained softly. "He brought me to Fiona's."

"Where'd you go when she died?" Hestia Jones asked curiously.

"Anywhere and everywhere," she answered. "We were nomads for a while."

"And Fiona's house..." Moody started to say. Harry got what he was going to ask and interrupted.

"We burned it down," he responded casually. Most of the Order looked shocked while Moody just nodded in approval. "She had left us instructions to take whatever we deemed valuable and then burn the place down. She said that Death Eaters would use her house as headquarters over her dead body."

"Smart woman," Moody stated approvingly.

"What about Phineas?" Mr. Weasley asked. Harry's suddenly went dark, like he was going to snap. Tess could see his muscles clench up. This was painful for him.

"Killed himself," Harry stated through a tight jaw. Everyone in the room looked shocked.

"But why?" Professor McGonagall asked, tears appearing in her eyes. She had always liked Phineas. He was a gifted man and a good one at that.

Tess spoke up, sensing Harry needed a break. "He said that no Death Eater was going to have the pleasure of killing him. He was going to die on his own terms," she explained sadly. She and Harry had known that hadn't been the real reason. Phin simply didn't want to go on without Fiona. That week had been the worst of their lives. She hadn't stopped crying, and Harry had been a quiet that was worse than tears.

"That's a shame," Dumbledore stated. "He was a good man."

Surprisingly, it was Harry's voice who spoke up. "Yeah, he was," the boy replied. The two pairs of eyes connected, and Dumbledore looked away first. He wasn't able to get through Harry's shields, but he could see a lot of things in Harry's eyes: pain, pride, determination, hate, and love. Though the amount of hate alarmed the Headmaster, he was reassured by the equal amounts of love present. Dumbledore knew Harry was the perfect match for Voldemort..

It was a while until someone spoke again. "Can we leave now?" Harry asked impatiently. He really wanted to get out of this castle and away from this castle full of people questioning him.

"Actually, Harry, it would be best if you remained in the castle until the term started. It will be safer for you here," Dumbledore explained, trying to persuade the boy in with the usual methods. It wasn't working.

"Look, I've been taking care of myself since I was six years old!" Harry ranted. "I don't need you or your birdie club looking over my shoulder." He didn't add that really, he'd been taking care of himself basically his whole life.

"Harry, I need you to trust me," Dumbledore requested. The boy was stubborn just like Lily, he had to admit.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "And why should I trust you?" he challenged. Dumbledore looked baffled. He couldn't remember the last time he was asked that. He was reminded of Aberforth. "You left me with them," he added, his mouth set into a grimace. Images of the Muggle relatives who had tortured him swirled through his head.

*_flashback*_

_A four year old Harry ducked as his aunt swung a frying pan at his head._

"_Stupid, worthless freak!" Uncle Vernon screamed before delivering yet another blow._

_Harry painfully moaned in his cupboard, clutching broken ribs._

"_They shouldn't be able to do this to you," Bea whispered as she tapped up his broken finger._

Harry tried to shake it off. All of that was in the past now, and he shouldn't even think about it. Dumbledore glanced briefly over at Snape, who tried to get into the boy's head. Like Dumbledore, he couldn't. Harry's mind was strong and well-protected. It was almost as if he was expecting someone to come snooping in.

Tess spoke up. "What's it in it for us?" she questioned. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Clearly, this girl wasn't as sweet and docile as he had first assumed. She had an iron fist of her own. Tess went on to explain. "We know about the prophecy and everything else and have survived on our own since the age of ten. You need Harry more than he needs you so why should we stay here?"

Dumbledore thought about this for a moment before responding, "Because it's what your parents would've wanted. They would want you safe at Hogwarts." His words hit Tess straight to her core. Unlike Harry, she had memories of her parents. She remembered their gentle voices and soft lullabies and words of love. She remembered that kind of love. Tess often suspected that was why she was more trusting than Harry. She had been raised in a loving environment where there was no reason to doubt anything you were told while Harry had been left to fend for himself against people who were supposed to care.

Tess looked over at Harry with a pout. "No!" he protested

"Why not?" the brunette questioned.

"You want to just sit around a castle while our friends die? There's a war going on out there," Harry shot back.

Tess's tone was gentler this time, surprising most of the Order. "I know that, but I think this is something we're supposed to do. I can sense it." Harry rolled his eyes, but Tess continued. "Plus, you always said you thought there was a... well, you-know-what in the castle. Now's our chance."

Harry sighed. He knew she wouldn't give in until she had her way. "Fine," he grudgingly agreed. Tess clapped her hands together. "But it's only temporary, and we're out of here the minute something happens."

No one understood what he was talking about, but Tess nodded. "Okay," she replied. Both went back to eating their dinner. Dumbledore smiled victoriously while the professors looked around at each other. It certainly was going to be an interesting year at Hogwarts.


	3. Tuxes, Friends, and Death Eater Spawn

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews! Love you guys! Enjoy the chapter! Sorry it's so short, but the next one will be longer and more exciting! **

Once everyone finished eating, the plates disappeared from the table. Harry's thoughts wandered to the friendly house elf now working in the kitchens of Hogwarts. He and Tess had "accidentally" freed Dobby when they were twelve. In return, Dobby had remained loyal to them, feeding them information and helping them with missions. It was through him that they found out about Tom Riddle's diary that had been smuggled into Hogwarts. With the hunch that it was a Horcrux, they had sent the school an anonymous tip about the diary. According to their Hogwarts sources, the diary had been confiscated and destroyed. One down, six to go.

Harry was snapped out of his daze by a gentle peck on his ear. He looked up to see his owl, Hedwig, sitting happily on his shoulder, a letter tied to her foot. Harry had gotten Hedwig as a tenth birthday present from Fiona, Tess, Phin, and… Bea. She was a gorgeous owl, snow white with gray markings around the eyes. Unfortunately, she was easily spotted, which was why Harry usually didn't use her on missions. Still, Hedwig held a special place in his heart. "Hey, Hedwig," he greeted nonchalantly. "Have any trouble getting here?" Hedwig gave out a little indignant hoot, as if offended by the idea that she wouldn't be able to find him. Tess laughed as Harry gently untied the letter from her leg. Only Harry could offend an owl.

"I missed Hedwig," Tess said. "She's got personality." She held out a bit of chicken to the snow white owl that gobbled it down happily. The rest of the room was admiring Hedwig, and she relished in the attention. Harry rolled his eyes.

"She reminds me of you whenever we go to a concert in London and dozens of boys are falling over your feet."

Tess blushed somewhat embarrassedly. "That's never happened!" she insisted. He just gave her a look. "Well, maybe once or twice…" Harry smirked. "Hey, wipe that smirk off your face before I send the picture of you in a tux to the Daily Prophet!" she threatened. Harry immediately stopped smirking. The rest of the Order, who had been either admiring Hedwig or talking amongst themselves, laughed at the idea of Harry in a tux, which most of them knew was the Muggle equivalent of dress robes. None of them could imagine Harry Potter, with his leather jacket and rebellious attitude, in anything that formal. Ever.

Tonks tried to hide her laughter but failed miserably. "How'd you get him to wear it?" she managed to get, her giggles dying down.

Tess smirked while Harry simply glared at her. "Silencio and Stupfey," she explained.

"And that's all it took?" Tonks asked in disbelief.

"Well, we also tied him to a chair, took away both his wands, and sound-proofed the room so he couldn't try to get help," Tess added casually. Many of the adults in the room looked amused. All that to get the boy in a suit? Somehow sensing their surprise, Tess said in defense, "It was Stephanie and Thomas's wedding. Harry was being a difficult groomsman. Desperate times called for desperate measures."

Harry, now not even paying attention to the conversation, opened the letter. He read through it carefully. It was from Theodore Nott, a good friend and useful spy of theirs. Harry had met Theo in Knockturn Alley while out on a delivery when they were fourteen. Unlike a lot of delivery boys, Harry wasn't overly picky about where or what he had to deliver to as long as he got paid. Theo had been sitting in the Dark Arts section of the store Harry had made a delivery to. The green-eyed boy saw what he was reading and recommended something better. Since then, the two boys had been good friends. Tess had taken a liking to Theo as well and enjoyed trying to match him up with Luna. While the pairing made him want to laugh, the two did get along extremely well. He read through the letter carefully. Harry and Tess had developed a special code for their friends to send them letters in case any of the owls were intercepted.

Tess noticed Harry's scowl and saw that he was reading the letter. "Who's it from?" she asked.

"Theo," Harry responded, not even taking his eyes off the parchment.

"Theo? McGonagall repeated. "Theodore Nott, perhaps?" Tess nodded.

"But his dad's a Death Eater!" Tonks exclaimed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, because Death Eaters clearly just breed perfectly obedient robot children who always follow orders. Never mind that they've seen their family names shamed by some Dark tosser." Tess held back a laugh. Many members of the Order, Dumbledore included, looked a little surprised at this jab. None had considered recruiting Death Eater children. After all, didn't they just grow into their parents? Snape nodded in approval. He knew a few members of his house that didn't support the Dark Lord but either pretended to or remained indifferent about it to avoid trouble at home. Slytherins were known as cunning for a reason.

Tess turned back to Harry. "So how's Theo?" she asked cheerfully.

"Same as usual," Harry replied with an eye roll. "Broody and bored."

"Gee, I wonder who else that sounds like?" Tess joked. Harry shot her a look. "So why are you making that face?"

"No news," Harry stated emotionless. Tess shrugged, not getting his point. Harry sighed. For all the things she did know, Tess was a little naïve. "No news was good last year. Now it's just alarming. Voldey-warts is planning something."

Tonks laughed at You-Know-Who's new nickname. Other Order members simply frowned at the boy's casual mention of You-Know-Who. Dumledore, however, had an annoyingly bright twinkle in his eyes.

"But what's he planning?" Tess questioned, the wheels in her head turning. They still weren't sure how much of the prophecy or their plans Voldemort knew. Almost as if reading her mind, Harry answered, "I think he's planning an attack, a really big one. He's going to try to hit where it would hurt the most. I'm guessing it would either be the Ministry or…"

"Hogwarts," Tess finished, her eyes wide.

Mrs. Weasley went pale, and Mr. Weasley grabbed her hand and tried to comfort her. Feeling bad for Mrs. Weasley's reaction, Harry uncharacteristically tried to offer some comfort, adding, "But he's not going to attack until he's more powerful. To do that, he needs more student followers and a weaker Hogwarts.. Then he'll attack when Hogwarts is at its most vulnerable."

Tess scrunched up her face in confusion. "But what about the…" She didn't even need to finish her question.

"No, I think he knows a little but not everything," Harry answered seriously. "All of our people are safe for now."

"A little of what?" Kingsley questioned slowly.

Harry fixed the man with a Fuck-you glance. "Just picking up the slack your little birdie club has left," he replied cheekily, not wanting to give a lot of information to an Auror but also wanting to majorly piss him off. He turned to Tess. "I'm going to go see if someone can cover for us tonight."

"Tonight?" Tess repeated before a light bulb went off in her head. "Oh, it was our night tonight."

Harry nodded. "I think Thomas's brother is in town. The two of them can do it." He left the Great Hall. As soon as Harry was good, everyone turned to Tess.

"What were you doing tonight?" Mad Eye questioned suspiciously.

"I can't tell," Tess admitted. "Harry would throw a hissy fit. I can say it's something important."

Remembering something, she turned to Snape and Dumbledore. "Oh, and no more trying to get into Harry's head. It pisses him off, and nobody wants to live with a pissed off Harry. Trust me on that one."

"You couldn't get into his head?" Dumbledore asked Snape. The Potions master shook his head. The Order looked shocked. Severus was a master Legilimens, even better than Dumbledore himself.

Tess smirked. "Harry's good at Occlumency. Actually, he's bloody brilliant at everything, but especially good at that."

"And who taught him?" Amelia Bones asked, thoroughly impressed.

"Phin. He always said that the most important thing that you possessed were your memories and that no one should be able to take them away from you. He taught the three…" Tess caught herself saying three of us, remembering that is was just her and Harry now. No more blonde hair flying everywhere, no whispered fairytales when they should've been sleeping. "He taught both of us."

Tess kept talking, trying to distill the empty feeling in her stomach. "It comes naturally to Harry. He's good at not letting anyone know what's going on inside that head of his." Realizing that she might've said too much, Tess excused herself from the table. The rest of the room was left to speculate on the two highly unusual teenagers that were sure to make waves in the castle.


	4. Why So Sirius?

**Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review! *Also, I'm changing one of the facts about a couple of Death Eaters in this chapter. I'll let u guess who they are!**

Sirius Black was many things: handsome, charming, child-like, broody, and sneaky when necessary, but one thing he was not was patience. And so it was understandable and almost expected when he came bursting into the Great Hall. "Where's Harry?" he demanded. "Where's my godson?" There was joy with underlying traces of anger on the former Azakban prisoner's face. Sirius wanted to know why his godson had run away from his Muggle relatives and where he had been since. He wanted to see Harry in person, to know that he was safe from harm. "Well?"

"Patience, Padfoot," a voice from behind him reprimanded. "I'm sure we'll see him soon." Remus Lupin walked towards his old friend. Remus, having possessed the one virtue Sirius so sorely lacked, knew there must be a reason they couldn't see Harry right away. He was just as anxious as Sirius to see Harry, but the werewolf trusted Dumbledore's judgment. It wouldn't be good to overwhelm the boy.

"I've waited fifteen years to see him again, and you say I'm not being patient?" Sirius shouted, rage overshadowing his features. Though he looked better than he did when he was released from Azakban three years ago, he still hadn't regained his previous charming looks.

The Order members looked around at each other, all of them lost on what to do. Dumbledore had given direct orders to not let Sirius or Remus see Harry until the headmaster was available, but at the same time they didn't really want a werewolf and a Grim after them. Luckily, another voice saved them.

"So you're Harry's godfather." Tess studied Sirius with sharp eyes. Clearly, his time in Azakban had taken a toll on him. She recognized the sickly figure of someone who had been in Azakban from seeing it on Sean. God, she couldn't even think about him without hearing his croaky voice after they rescued him. Emptying her mind, she turned back to Sirius and Remus.

"Who are you? How do you know my godson?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"My name is Tess McKinnon. I've known Harry since we were eight years old," Tess explained.

"Marlene McKinnon's niece?" Remus questioned. Tess nodded. "I thought Voldemort wiped that whole family out."

"That's what everybody thought, but my parents managed to escape to France. We lived there until the war was over and coming back was safe. Unfortunately, they were killed by Death Eaters when I was eight." Tess blinked back forming tears. She still remembered that day so clearly. It was a memory that would never fade no matter how much she wanted it to. She would always remember her parents fighting to the end with Death Eaters, how both had been shot at with green light and then suddenly dead. It had been so quick and jarring that Tess couldn't even wrap her mind around it even years afterwards. All she knew was that she had been told to run, and so she did. "Harry found me on the streets not to long after that. He brought me to Fiona's."

"And what was he doing on the streets?" Sirius demanded, his face turning red. Why would Harry be on the streets when he had relatives to take care of him? Unless they… The Marauder shook the thought off. He didn't even want to thank about that option.

Tess rolled her eyes. "On a delivery, I imagine. Harry's a deeply paranoid person. He always thinks someone's at to get him." She didn't add that someone usually was. No one missed the dark look sweep across her usually cheerful features before she continued. "Harry loved living at Fiona's, but he always thought it was too good to last." Tess stopped abruptly, something Bea always used to say popping into her head. She bit her lip.

Remus sensed that the brunette had something more to say, so he pressed on. "What is it?" he coaxed gently. Tess looked at him, her eyes glistening.

"Bea always used to say that Harry had a talent for seeing thunderclouds on the sunniest of days." She swallowed down her tears and continued. "He always went back to the streets once in a while so he wouldn't forget how to live there."

"That's horrible!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "How can a person live like that."

Tess's response was mature and chilling that several of the adults couldn't stop staring at them. "You'd be surprised at what people can live with." Sirius looked at this young girl and was shocked by how old she looked. He recognized the look in her eyes simply from looking in the mirror. She had the eyes of someone who had been thoroughly and completely broken. If that was how she looked, Sirius could only imagine what Harry's eyes held.

And at that moment, the boy in question darted back into the room, his gaze sweeping across the room until he found Tess, though his eyes stopped temporarily at Sirius and Remus. Tess could tell Harry was surprised, but being the person he was hid it well. Harry looked at Tess, his eyes like stone. She knew that meant something bad. "Stephanie and Thomas were attacked today," he reported, his voice dangerously low.

Tess, horrified, put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god," she gasped. "Are they okay?"

Harry nodded. "Luckily, the Death Eaters sent weren't too smart. They stepped right into our little alarm system." The two friends shared a smirk. "The apothecary wasn't damaged, but Stephanie was spooked a little bit. Thomas managed to calm her down, and I promised we'd come visit soon to 'soothe her nerves'." Tess laughed at the pained expression on his face. "Blasted woman," he muttered under her breath.

Tess smacked him on the side of the head. "That's an awful thing to say! You love Stephanie!"

"But I don't love her cooking," Harry shot back. Tess, despite her disapproval, couldn't help but laugh. When he was in a good mood, the green-eyed could make anyone laugh. It made her sad to think she couldn't do the same for him. Harry rarely smiled anymore, let alone laughed. Sometimes Tess felt like all the warmth had been sucked out of him, that he was just a zombie, but then little moments would happen to remind her Harry was still Harry. Those moments were rare and short nowadays.

Harry continued. "But there is also some good news." He paused, enjoying the look of suspense on Tess's face. "Lestrange was there. One of our people knows where he's going next."

The Order watched carefully as Tess's expression went from dark to worried. Rodolphus Lestrange , his brother Rabastan, and his wife Bellatrix had escaped Azakban six years ago, and no one knew how. Most speculated it had something to do with Voldemort, but nothing had ever been confirmed. Tonks and Kingsley tuned into the conversation in case any of the information was useful. "Don't do it, Harry," she advised much to the confusion of the rest of the room. "It's not worth it."

"Why not? "You know what he did! He's scum!"" Harry shouted, anger radiating off his words. This man had taken away everything from him, everything that mattered. He wanted him and his bitch wife dead.

"We have more important things to worry about," Tess stated, trying to calm her friend.

"He killed them!" Harry shouted, the famous Potter temper now evident. Sirius and Remus looked at each other in slight amusement. Harry definitely had Lily's temper. "Or did you forget?"

This time, it was Tess who exploded. "Forget? How in the hell could I forget, Harry? I see it in my dreams all the bloody time!" She looked at the guy she considered a brother and saw the way his eyes had lowered. "And I know you do too," she added in a lower, calm tone.

"I want him dead," Harry said calmly.

"I know," Tess whispered back. "But can you at least wait a little longer?" she pleaded. "For me?"

Harry looked at the gorgeous brunette and remembered another time when she had pleaded for him to wait. No one knew that he would probably do whatever she asked, and they never would. Harry had made a promise once, and he never went back on his promises.

"Okay," Harry sighed in defeat. Tess smiled.

"Good," she approved. "Now go get some sleep. You look like hell." Harry rolled his eyes but started to walk towards the door.

"Night, Paws," he shouted before leaving.

"Night, Rocky," she shouted back. Tess then turned to the Order. "Well, it was nice meeting you all. I think I'm going to go send a message before bed. Good night!" She then exited the room with the same speed Harry had. The Order was left sitting there dumbfounded. Clearly, they were in way over their heads.

Albus Dumbledore sat in the Order of the Phoniex meeting and listened as the Order members described the conversation between Harry and Tess.

"If you ask me," Molly Weasley began, "they're a cry for help. No normal teenagers want to be fighting battles that aren't their own. God knows the things they've seen!"

"But these two aren't normal teenagers!" Mad-Eye barked. "From what we've heard, they've been fighting Voldemort for a while. The boy knows his opponent well enough that he's able to predict his moves, is an accomplished Occlumens, and apparently more paranoid than I am!"

"Is that even possible?" Tonks whispered to Remus, who laughed. Mad-Eye immediately heard that and turned around, glaring at them. Tonks looked down laughing.

"He's right, Molly," Kingsley interrupted. "It isn't wise to underestimate these two."

"The problem is that we don't know enough," Mr. Weasley argued.

"By that, you mean they haven't told us enough," Tonks corrected. "Harry trusts us as much as he trusts Death Eaters."

"Definitely worse than Mad-Eye then," Bill Weasley muttered, causing a few chuckles around the room.

"We need to talk to someone close to him," Sirius suggested. "It probably is a good idea to Floo that Stephanie woman they were talking about."

"Already done," a voice from behind stated. The animagus turned around to see his least favorite person in all of Hogwarts walking towards the table. "I Flooed Ms. Perkins to ask her about Mr. Potter and Ms. McKinnon, and she replied with a threat that if I hurt them she'd turn me into a bat and make all those old rumors come true." The chuckles were louder now. "She also warned me that the two had more dangerous friends to worry about if either were to turn up hurt."

"Like who?" Sirius questioned irritably. "Since when are teenagers so hard to figure out?"

"Or so vague," Remus added.

"He doesn't mean to be," a familiar voice responded. Everyone turned to see Tess standing by the door in pajamas, bunny slippers on her feet.

"Ah, Tess, come in," Dumbledore invited graciously. She smiled at him and continued, taking a seat across from Sirius. "I thought you had gone to sleep."

"I got to sleep last night," Tess answered. Seeing the confused expressions in the room, she explained. "Harry worked half the day yesterday and then spent half the day on guard duty. Today was his day to sleep, but coming here kind of messed with our schedule a bit."

"And what exactly does he do?" Kingsley questioned, knowing the situation of some of the teenagers living on the streets.

"Deliveries mostly, but he'll take on anything if it pays enough. One time, some guy in Knockturn Alley paid him ten gallons to be a curse dummy. He couldn't walk right for a few days, but he said it was worth it," Tess answered. There was a short pause before she spoke again. "Believe it or not, Harry's not trying to irritate you."

Hestia Jones raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because he had me fooled."

"Oh, I'm not saying it's not an added bonus for him," the young witch backtracked. "Harry loves to piss off authority figures, especially ones that work at the Ministry."

"Why the Ministry?" Remus asked carefully. Tess's smile faded a bit.

"Let's just say they've screwed us over more than once, especially the Auror department," Tess answered, her voice dangerously low. Then, suddenly remembering there were Aurors in the room, she turned to Tonks and Kingsley. "No offense."

"Harry's just protecting himself," Tess continued, a sad smile on her face. "He doesn't trust you. Not yet, at least."

"And do you?" Dumbledore questioned quietly.

Tess nodded. "I do," she answered. "But I'm more trusting than Harry. I didn't grow up like he did. My parents loved me, and I had every reason to trust them. Harry never had that." He did have Bea, she thought mentally. Tess wasn't about to tell them about Bea. She trusted them, but not that much.

"And why's that?" Sirius asked, eager for more information about his godson and wary of the turn the conversation could take.

Tess shook her head. "I can't tell you. The list of people Harry trusts is short. It's hard to get on that list and even harder to stay on it." She turned to the Headmaster. "Professor, do you happen to have a pensieve in your office?" Dumbledore nodded and within seconds it appeared it the Great Hall. "Thank you. I'm going to show you something, but you can't tell Harry ." Tess dropped a memory into the pensieve, and the room watched as the memory appeared. Hopefully it would help them understand the mystery that was Harry Potter.


	5. The Three Musketeers

**Hey! Sorry for the lack of updating! Enjoy the chapter!**

Everyone watched as Tess expertly put her memories in the pensieve. Sighing, she stepped back and sat down, letting the memory play back and remembering the day herself.

_An eight-year-old Tess was sitting against a brick wall, shivering as the wind blew on her thin blanket. Her brown hair was matted and dirty, and her clothes ragged and smelly. She had nowhere to go and no one to take care of her. Her parents were dead. She still couldn't wrap her mind around this. Her parents were dead, and she was living on the streets. She hadn't been there long and didn't know how much longer she could survive. Tess had never learned survival; there had been no need to. Her parents had loved her. _

"_I wouldn't be sitting there if I were you. The drunks will be here in an hour, and they'll want their spot." She looked up to see a boy around her age. He had messy black hair and was wearing a black jacket and jeans. And even though he was probably her age, he seemed so much older than her. His eyes were old, as if he had lived so many more years than he actually had. "Do you have a place to sleep?"_

"_What?" Tess mumbled, eyeing this boy warily. _

"_I said, do you have a place to sleep?" the boy repeated, a hint of annoyance in his voice._

"_No," she replied lowly. The boy nodded and held out his hand to her._

"_Let's go then," he replied. Tess looked at this boy in confusion._

"_Go where?" she asked, still not taking his hand._

"_You said you didn't have a place to sleep so I'm going to take you to mine," the boy explained as if this was a basic fact. Seeing Tess's confused look, he continued. "Look, I promise I'm not going to hurt you, but it's cold, and you can't sleep here. Just come with me."_

_Tess still wasn't convinced. "Why do you care?" she questioned._

_The boy's eyes grew softer, and Tess was struck by how much younger he looked in that moment. "Because I was in the same place once, and someone saved me. I'm returning the favor," he replied with a small smile. The boy held out his hand. "You coming or not?"_

_Tess hesitated before reaching out and grabbing the boy's hand. He pulled her up, and they started to walk out of the alley. "My name's Harry, Harry Potter," the boy introduced himself._

"_Tess McKinnon," she mumbled. Harry smiled at her, and she felt herself relax. _

The memory faded out, and a new one began. Clearly, it was still from the same day, but the two children were now approaching a cozy old house. It was by no means glamorous and wealthy-looking, but it had a lot of help. Tess felt herself smile. That house had been her home for two years, and she would never forget them.

_ "Where are we?" Tess asked Harry curiously, the initial shyness now washed away. Something about Harry made her feel safe, like he could somehow block away all the bad. _

_ "Home," he answered with a smile on his face. "I promise you'll love it." Harry opened the old wooden door, and the two children stepped into the house. The first impression Tess got was that she had landed it heaven. It was warm and cozy, delicious smells wavering through from the kitchen. Tess could feel her mouth watering. _

_ "Harry, is it that you?" a kind voice called out from the kitchen. _

_ "Yep," Harry answered. "And I have someone for you to meet." He grabbed Tess's hand and dragged her into the kitchen. The wonderful smells were even stronger. The lady studying her was far too old to be Harry's mother, she decided, and plus Harry had indirectly told her that he had been saved off the streets. Still, Tess liked this lady, whoever she was. Her hair was graying slightly, but she had a cheerful air about her, and there was a kind smile on her lips._

_ "And who's this?" she asked gently. Tess looked down at her shoes, ashamed of her appearance._

_ "Tess McKinnon," Harry introduced. "She doesn't have a place to sleep." The lady nodded in understanding and wiped her hands off her apron. _

_ "Well, it's a good thing you brought her here, isn't it?" the lady laughed cheerfully. She turned to Tess. "My name's Fiona. Are you hungry?" The girl nodded mutely. "Okay then. You need some fattening up. I swear you're almost as bad as Harry was when he came here. Now he's almost a normal sized boy!" _

_ Harry scowled, but both could tell it wasn't genuine. "Oi! I could take any boy bigger than me in a fight and win," he boasted. Fiona rolled her eyes and smiled._

_ "Of course you could," she replied. Suddenly, a blonde little girl came streaking into the room as fast as lightening. She ruffled Harry's hair, something Tess would never attempt to do, and plopped down into the chair next to him._

_ "Hey! Did you just get back from a delivery? How's Tom? Did you see anyone?" The girl seemed to ramble off questions faster than Harry could get answers, but he answered each question in a couple of words. Finally, the girl noticed Tess. "Hi! I'm Beatrice Dupont, but you can call me Bea! I hate the name Beatrice! It's so old grandma-ish!" _

_ Harry held back a snort. "Geez, give the girl a chance to breathe, Bea," he stated, laughing as he watched the interaction. _

_ Bea stuck out her tongue at Harry. "You're just jealous cuz I can talk faster than you!" she shot back before turning back to Tess. "What's your name?"_

_ "Tess McKinnon," she mumbled. Bea smiled gently at her._

_ "Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of here," she reassured the brunette. "You'll be safe here."_

_ Tess felt her hopes rise. "So I get to stay?" she asked tentatively. The three people in the room looked at her in surprise. Tess felt her hopes sink again._

_ Finally, Bea answered, "Of course! Harry brought you here, so you're a part of our family." And those words settled. Tess McKinnon settled into the fascinating world of Harry and Bea and quickly became their Third Musketeers. _

The memories ended, and Tess felt herself smiling sadly. Those two years, though short, had been the happiest she had any memory of. Her life before Harry and Bea, the one with her parents, seemed like nothing more than a distant memory, one not even a Pensieve could bring back.

The Order seemed to be in shock. Most of them had never expected Harry, who seemed to have a very Slytherin mindset, to rescue a complete stranger off the street. Something else, however, caught Sirius's attention.

"How'd Harry know that was the drunks' favorite spot?" he asked worriedly.

Tess shrugged. "Harry just knows stuff like that. He watches, listens, and never forgets a thing. He says it's kept him alive so far in life so he must be doing something right."

"And he just offered you a place to sleep? Without even asking anything about why you were sleeping in an alley?" Tonks asked in disbelief. She expected more caution from a boy who didn't trust anyone.

As if reading Tonks' mind, the brunette witch replied, "Harry told me that he could sense that I was like him and that he couldn't have walked away from me. Eventually, a week or two after I'd been living at Fiona's, I told them the whole story. I remember Bea and Fiona crying, but Harry just nodded in sympathy like he understood." She paused, contemplating her next words before continuing. "And Harry was more trusting back then. Before…"

Nobody needed her to embellish on that particular detail. They were all still shocked by the deaths of two Order members that no one knew about until now.

For some reason, Tess felt compelled to add one more thing. "I know he looks tough, but Harry's got a really good heart. He doesn't fight those weaker than him. He's eternally loyal once he trusts you, and he'd die for any of his friends. His mindset is Slytherin, but his heart belongs in Gryffindor." And with that, she walked out of the Great Hall, leaving the Order members to stew over the new information given to them.


	6. Strawberries and the Maurader's Map

**Hey! Happy Single Awareness Day! This chapter is dedicated to all my single peeps out there! *winks* So now that Harry and Tess are at Hogwarts, what trouble will they get into? And what else about the two will be revealed? How will Harry react to Sirius and Remus? All these questions and more will be answered in this chapter! Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

"_Harry! Harry!" Bea screamed. Harry looked around, but he didn't recognize where he was. The room was dark with glass walls. It was cold, the glass making the room seem colder. He felt shivers go down his spine, but it wasn't because of the cold. A cloaked figure stood there, clutching Bea. Harry wanted to fight this man, but he knew he wouldn't have a chance. _

"_Say goodbye to your friend, Harry Potter," the figure sneered. Harry lunged at him, trying to grab Bea's hand. The figure disappeared…_

Harry woke up in a sweaty panic. He grabbed his wand and clutched it tightly, his heart racing. He waited a couple of minutes until he was sure nothing was there. The black-hair boy leaned back in his bed and sighed. He couldn't remember the last decent night of sleep he'd had. Most of his nights were like this, waking up from dreams he couldn't understand. So many things haunted him, and few gave him peace.

The nightmares had been a regular part of his routine for two years now. Harry couldn't remember what had triggered them, only that they had started. Tess always tried to get him to tell her about them, but he couldn't. They were too scary, too gruesome for her to handle.

"Harry?" Tess's voice called out. Harry saw her standing in the doorway, a blanket thrown over her small shoulders.

"Hey," he greeted. "Couldn't sleep?" Tess nodded shakily. Harry patted the spot besides him. Tess jumped up and got under the blankets. It wasn't even weird for them to sleep in the same bed anymore. When they lived at Fiona's, Bea would always insist on the three of them sleeping in the king-sized guest bed. And though they would all usually be nice and spread apart when they went to sleep, the trio always ended up tangled in each other's limbs and hair by morning. After…. the thing, they had been nomads, sleeping close together for warmth and protection. Tess had been scared to let Harry out of her sights for even a moment. She didn't want anything to happen to him. When they lived in their tent trying to find Horcruxes, the two shared a cot with their friends. It felt so weird to be sleeping in a normal bed in a normal room.

"Night, Harry," she whispered softly.

"Night, Tess," he replied back. The two drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Sirius Black pounded up the Gryffindor stairs excitedly. Not only did he get to revisit his old dormitory, the place of so many fond memories, but he also got to wake up his godson. Of all the regrets he had, not being there for Harry was probably high on the list. If only he hadn't gone after the blasted rat… If only he'd gotten to Godric's Hallow sooner…

Snapping out of his melancholy thoughts, the Anamigus walked up the stairs. Upon walking towards the door, however, he heard Harry talking to someone. Since the voice was deep, he assumed Harry was using the fireplace.

"No, I haven't told them yet," Harry stated in an annoyed tone, as if the person he was talking to was an idiot for trying to ask the question.

"Good," the man approved. "Now's not the time for you to be taking too many risks, Harry."

"The old coot has eyes everywhere around here anyway," Harry grumbled.

"Use the map," the voice instructed. "I'll send you an owl tomorrow."

"Okay," Harry agreed. "Talk to you later." The voice faded away, and Sirius knocked on the door. "Come in," Harry called out.

Sirius stepped into the room and was struck by two things. The first thing was how clean the room was. He spotted a knapsack sitting on the side table and Harry's leather jacket hanging from the bedpost. Otherwise, there was nothing there to distinguish the room. Sirius was surprised since both he and James had been big on decorating their rooms, but he figured that it could just be a habit that the boy had picked up on the streets.

The second thing he noticed was Tess sound asleep in Harry's bed. The brunette's face was peaceful as she slept. Her hair was spread out onto the pillow. Sirius caught Harry's eye and gestured to Tess. Harry deduced what he was asking and shook his head. "Nightmares," he responded vaguely. Sirius only nodded, not knowing what to say to his godson. Harry turned to look at Tess sleeping. He nudged her shoulder gently. The girl moaned. "Tess, get up."

"No…" she whined. "Five more minutes."

"Last time you said that, you slept for another hour," Harry reminded her with raised eyebrows.

"Go away," Tess mumbled.

Sirius decided to speed up the process and butt in. "Well, I guess we'll just have to go eat a delicious home-cooked breakfast without you…" he trailed off.

Harry caught on and smirked. "And the strawberries…" he baited, knowing his best friend could never say no to strawberries.

Tess sprang out of bed like a lightening beam. "I'm coming!" she shouted energetically, grabbing her shoes and running out the door. Harry rolled his eyes. He turned to Sirius.

"Thanks," he said casually before following his friend out the door. Sirius sighed. It was going to take a while to get close to Harry, but he was willing to wait. If only there was some way to get to know him…

The teachers of Hogwarts (excluding Umbridge) plus Sirius and Remus sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast and observing their two newest students. Dumbledore had to admit neither of them were what he would've expected, but he expected to like them nonetheless.

Tess scrunched her face up in disgust as Harry put jam and butter on his toast. "That's disgusting," she commented as he folded the piece of toast in half and took a bite.

Harry rolled his eyes and swallowed. "Worse than sausages in ketchup?" he shot back, pointing to her plate.

"That's different," Tess argued.

"How?" Harry challenged.

Tess got stuck. "Well…" she trailed off

Harry looked victorious. "Ha!" he shouted. Tess rolled her eyes, noticing the professors watching. She couldn't jinx him in front of them.

After that, breakfast was relatively quiet. Everyone ate their food in silence, not knowing what to say. After a few minutes, however, Hedwig came flying in with a bundle of letters. She sat on Harry's shoulder and nibbled at his ear affectionately. He fed her a piece of sausage, and she flew away. Harry untied the bundle and started sorting through the letters.

"Luna, Theo, Sean, Daphne and Astoria, Stephanie…" Harry mumbled, tossing certain letters to Tess. She scanned the envelopes curiously, smiling as she spotted certain names.

"Luna Lovegood?" McGonagall questioned causally.

Tess nodded with a smile. "We meet her in Italy when we were thirteen," she explained with a laugh. "Her dad and she were on an expedition."

"For what?" Sirius asked, trying to refrain from rolling his eyes. He knew Mr. Lovegood, and the man was eccentric at best.

Tess shrugged. "Only they know," she joked.

"I'm sure they knew what they were looking for," Harry defended. "The best thing about Luna is her ability to believe in things you can't see."

Dumbledore smiled. "Is this ability you possess yourself, Harry?" he asked.

Harry fixed him with a hard stare. He smiled sardonically. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't, Professor," he all but hissed at the older wizard. He turned to Tess. "You know where to find me." She nodded, and he walked away, a stack of letters in his hands.

Something struck Remus as odd. "If you two have never been to Hogwarts, how will you know where to find him?" the werewolf questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Tess smiled slyly. "The map," she stated.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other in shock. Was it possible? Could Harry really have the Marauder's Map. As far as they knew, it was still in Flich's office from when he confiscated it. The group had mourned over the loss of the map for a good month. "The map?" Sirius repeated hopefully. All of the teachers groaned. The Marauders had caused chaos with that map and the Invisibility Cloak. They could only imagine what Harry could do with it.

The brunette nodded and pulled out what appeared to be a faded piece of parchment. Sirius, realizing the mystery of the map would be ruined if the teachers heard, cast a quick charm so that only he and Remus could hear what Tess was saying. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she chanted, tapping the map with her wand.

Sirius sighed. "I've missed that map. Where did you get it?"

"Fred and George," Tess replied with a smirk. "Harry did them a favor, and they gave him the map. Of course, they probably would've given it to Harry anyway…" she trailed off.

"But why would Harry want the map if he didn't need it?" Remus asked suspiciously.

Tess fixed him with an intense stare. "Because we knew who the Marauders were," she replied seriously. "Fiona constantly told stories about you guys and all the pranks you pulled at Hogwarts. She told us about the map."

"So where's Harry now?" Sirius interrupted, remembering the disappearance of his godson.

Tess checked the map. "The Quidditch pitch," she said with a knowing smile.

"Is he good?" the former prisoner asked eagerly.

Tess gave him a mischievous smile. "Well, let's go see, shall we?" she teased. Tess liked these two men, and she wanted Harry to as well. God knows he could use some parental figures in his life. Plus, she knew Harry had always wanted to get to know the living Marauders if he had the chance, though the black haired boy would never admit that. Harry never admitted wanting anything out of his reach so that it wouldn't hurt if he didn't get it.

"Lead the way!" Sirius shouted. And so the two Marauders and Tess headed out to the Quidditch pitch, not knowing what to expect.


	7. Flying, Pranks, and Impressing Moody

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! Love you guys! So, in this chapter, we learn more about Harry and Tess throught their lessons, and one of our favorite paranoid Aurors observes a lesson. Who could that be? Read on to find out! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I barely have the time to write this.**

Harry flew around the Quidditch pitch, doing spins and dives, trying to clear his head. Flying always comforted Harry. It was the one thing he felt like he was naturally good at. He still remembered learning how to ride a broom. It had been a bright sunny day, and Fiona had insisted that the three kids get out of the house and do something. Phin had offered to teach them how to fly, an opportunity Harry jumped out. He had heard the stories about his dad and how he was an amazing Quidditch player. A small part of Harry wanted to see if he was anything like his parents. To his surprise and Phin's amusement, Harry's broom jumped up the second he said up. Harry was a natural.

Meanwhile, Tess, Sirius, and Remus walked towards the Quidditch pitch. Tess smiled as she caught sight of her best friend flying around in circles with a smile on his face. Harry was always happier on a broom, especially nowadays. It was like, for a moment, he forgot all their troubles, the total chaos around them. Sirius and Remus, on the other hand, were watching Harry with their mouths wide open. Harry was good, really good, and super-fast. They could barely make out his face as he whizzed around the pitch. Suddenly, Harry took a deep dive. Sirius and Remus tried to shout out him that he was going to crash, but Tess quieted them. "Harry never crashes," she told them with a mischievous smile. Sure enough, Harry flew seamlessly, managing to fly up from the ground without crashing. He spotted Tess with his parents' old friends and flew down to where they were, gracefully landing his broom. Remus and Sirius's mouths were wide open. Harry smirked.

"You're gonna catch flies with your mouths open that wide," he quipped. For once, Sirius had no comeback. He felt like he had just seen a ghost of his best friend on a broomstick.

"Where did you learn to fly like that?" Sirius asked excitedly, his dark eyes lighting up and softening his face.

Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "Phin taught me how to ride, and I picked up some tricks from friends." He caught Tess's eye, and they both tried to surprise grins thinking off the two men's reaction to knowing who he had learned said tricks from. Somehow he didn't think it was a great idea to tell them that they were friends with the Krums and even spent a year living with them in Bulgaria.

Now Sirius was just overflowing with questions, but Remus shot him a look. They needed to earn Harry's trust before grilling him about Quidditch moves. "So how do you know the Weasley twins?" he questioned.

"We've done business," Harry replied vaguely. "They're good guys and good pranksters."

"And are you?"

"Am I what?"

"A good prankster?" Remus asked.

Harry smirked. "I'm not bad," he answered with a tiny glint in his eye. Tess rolled her eyes.

"He turned my hair green one time," she told the two older men.

Sirius snorted. "Please, that's amateur stuff."

"And enchanted to smell like seaweed," Tess added. "I kept pulling crabs and shells out of my hair for weeks."

Harry smiled in memory of his favorite prank. "Yeah, that was a good one," he laughed. Now Sirius had no qualms about shooting off questions, and Harry seemed more than willing to answer. Pranking was their common ground. Most people wouldn't assume it meeting him, but Harry loved a good prank. There was nothing better than doing something stupid and earning a laugh out of it. Fiona once told him that the best thing about the war being over was having laughter back in the world again. Ever since then, Harry had tried to make sure there was always laughter. After all, Bea had always been laughing and smiling and humming happy little songs to herself. Every time he pulled a prank or heard a joke, he couldn't help but wonder what she would've thought of it.

Tess sighed in contentment. Harry was starting to open up to these people, to trust them. Maybe they'd actually have a chance here. Maybe they could have a real family. Sometimes Tess wondered what her parents would think of the life she's created for herself, the people she's surrounded herself with. She likes to think they would've been proud, but truthfully she didn't remember them enough to say. She wondered what Fiona and Phin would think of this life they led. She had a feeling they would be proud.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Harry's shouts. "Coming or not?" he shouted.

Her face broke out into a grin. "Last one there is a rotten flobberworm!" she shouted back, breaking out into a run towards the castle. Harry made a face at the reference to the flobberworm but started running. Sirius and Remus watched in amusement as the two raced back to the castle. For just a moment, it almost seemed like they were just two little kids with no worries or burdens. It was a good moment.

The rest of the day passed by with nothing specular. Harry and Tess both had to meet with their professors to see if they were on par with the sixth years. First was Transfiguration. Neither Harry nor Tess was worried about this class. Phin had been a Transfiguration teacher before the war, and he had drilled them until their transfigurations were perfect. Harry had a natural talent with Transfiguration that Tess didn't, but she worked just as hard as he did. Plus, it didn't hurt that both of them were Animguses.

Charms was just as easy. Harry had always managed to find them good teachers in that area, and they were something that came naturally to the both of them. Professor Flitwick was so excited he fell off his stools. He tried to get the two of them to be in his seventh year class, but both declined with the hope they would be able to keep a low profile. As a compromise, he gave them advanced Charm textbooks, which they promised to study.

History of Magic was an utter failure for Tess, but Harry had better luck with it. He had always loved books as a kid and had absorbed every book in Fiona's house. Though Professor Binns was boring, even for a ghost, he managed to impress him. Astronomy went well also. Bea had loved the stars, and she'd spent hours telling them all the constellations and their myths. After she died, Harry just got into the habit of learning about the stars. Arthimancy and Ancient Runes went well enough, but neither of them was anything special in those classes.

Harry failed Divination. Horribly. And so did Tess. Then again, neither of them held much stock in Divination anyway. Sure, there was the prophecy, but they were pretty sure that was true. As far as Harry was considered, Professor Trewlaney was just a glittery insect fraud who got the job at Hogwarts because of a Seer grandmother. Tess added that the incense in her room would probably kill her one day. When they voiced these complaints, Professor McGongall smiled and gave them biscuits.

Potions was the one class Harry was dreading. Sure, Stephanie had been giving them lessons for two years, and she was a Potions master, and others in Knockturn Alley had been teaching the two of them how to brew illegal potions for the black market for years. Well, mostly Harry. Tess had a tighter moral compass than Harry did. Maybe it was because he had lived on the streets longer or maybe it was because he was a realist, but Harry knew that sometimes you had to break the law to survive.

Snape grilled them on every potion known to man, even mentioning ones Harry knew weren't even taught at Hogwarts. Clearly, the grudge Snape had against his dad had been passed on to him. By the end of the lesson, however, Snape looked impressed. "Well, it looks like Ms. Perkins managed to teach you something," he complimented. Harry mentally reminded himself to compliment Stephanie's cooking the next time they ate there and to ask for seconds.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was where Harry and Tess really shined. All of the professors plus Dumbledore sat in on this lesson, curious to see what the two kids could do. Since Umbridge wasn't there, Remus oversaw the exam. The two friends faced each other. "Wands at the ready," Remus instructed. Harry smirked at Tess.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Harry," Tess taunted. "Or I might just have to hex your eyebrows off."

Harry snorted. "I'd like to see you try," he challenged.

"On three," Remus stated, ignoring the squabbling teenagers. "One, two, three…" What happened after three was amazement to everyone in the room. Harry shot curses at Tess in rapid speed, and she sent her own back nearly as fast. Instead of putting up a shield, however, he simply dodged, stepping and sliding away from the light. Tess was graceful in her dueling, almost like she was dancing. Harry, on the other hand, fought like an Auror with a little Death Eater mixed in for good measure. He was smart and fast and always one step ahead of his opponent. You could tell he was calculating every move by looking into his emerald eyes, which sparkled with keen intelligence. The duel continued until Tess failed to dodge a spell and fell to the ground, slapping her leg in frustration.

"Damn!" she shouted.

Harry shrugged. "I win," he stated. The teachers looked at each other in confusion. What spell had that been?

"What was that?" someone asked from the door. Everyone turned around to see Mad-Eyed Moody standing in the doorway, looking impressed.

"A little spell of my own," Harry replied. "Sort of a Jelly Legs but with a little more pain put into it."

"Experimenting with spells is dangerous," the old Auror barked.

"I live on the edge," Harry shot back. Tess held back a snort. A truer statement had never been uttered.

Moody smiled. "I'll think we'll got along just fine, Potter," he said.

***Please forgive spelling errors in this chapter! I didn't have my usual resources available to me. **


	8. Delia and Daisy

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews as always! This chapter is coming to you from the open road! *cheers* Ah, the open road.. No Internet, fast food, and lots of reading. What could be better? So, in this chapter, there's another unexpected visitor to Hogwarts, one that shakes up Harry's world. Who could it be? Read on to find out. Disclaimer: JKR is the wonderful owner of Harry Potter, not me. Unless she wants to give it to me, which I highly doubt. **

After Tess and Harry's Defense exam, everyone gathered in the Great Hall for lunch. The meal was just the professors and Dumbledore with the addition of Sirius and Remus. Harry breathed a sigh of relief at this. He was used to the noise and bustle of a lot of people, but he felt his guard go up when he was around the Order. Some of them were the same type of people Ralph had warned him against. "Don't trust anyone with a severe moral compass," the older guy had told him. "In the end, they'll turn against you for the "greater good." When Harry had asked if there was a greater good, out of mild curiosity, Ralph had simply replied, "If there is, it's none of your business. Your first concern is always yourself." It was a lesson he took to heart, a lesson he had always known. Growing up with the Dursleys, he had to think that. Thinking anything else would've ended up killing him. Harry was trying to get along with these people for Tess's sake and only her sake. He knew that, more than anything, the brunette wanted a home. He couldn't say he didn't wish the same sometimes, but he also knew that he'd lost the only home he'd ever known.

The food was excellent as usual for Hogwarts. Harry and Tess were still both having a hard time adjusting to this. They'd been on the run so long they'd forgotten what a real meal was like. Usually lunch consisted of bread and cheese and maybe something else if one of them had gone and bartered at a local village. The portions had been small, split between five people, but everyone always had enough. Tess took a bite of the sandwich on her plate, trying to savor it. Harry was tempted to laugh but knew he was doing the same thing.

The professors as well as Sirius and Remus noticed this odd habit. It was something they noticed with sadness. Tess and Harry tended to look at food like it was a miracle, like they were luckily to have something on their plate. Sirius wondered how Harry was able to survive the streets at six. Of course, he knew his godson hadn't been completely alone, but still. How do a little boy and girl manage to stay alive out there? He was sorely tempted to ask, but when he'd mentioned it to Remus, the werewolf said it wasn't a good idea. Remus reminded him that the girl in the memory seemed to be a sore spot and that Harry wasn't supposed to know they saw the memory.

Tess put down her sandwich and turned to Harry. "How do you think Sean is doing?" she asked quietly.

Harry sighed. This conversation always went around in circles. "I'm sure he's fine," the dark-haired boy replied. "Old Mam's probably fattening him up as we speak."

Tess laughed, but it was hallow. "He looked so awful," she whispered.

Harry shrugged, but it wasn't a relaxed shrug. It was a 'I can't think of anything to say because I agree with you shrug.' "That's what Azakban does to you," he stated bluntly. Sirius perked up. Who do they knew who escaped from Azakban?

"It's all my fault," she murmured. Harry grabbed her wrist and forced her to look into his eyes. Tess always felt safe looking at Harry's eyes. They were reassuring, like no evil could ever occur while he was around.

"It's not your fault," he repeated softly for what seemed like the millionth time. "There was nothing you could do." His voice suddenly got more venomous. "If anything, it's her fault," he hissed. Everyone in the room was caught off guard by the sudden hate in Harry's eyes. It consumed him to the point where he looked like the tough street kid he was.

"You know that's not true," she admonished. "Delia did what any of us would've done."

Harry's eyes flashed with something no one could recognize. "You would've suspected your friend, a guy who's practically your brother, of turning to the other side? You would've just stood there while some Aurors," he practically spit out the word, "came and took him to Azakban? You would've just let him rot in that hellhole?" Harry's voice became gentler, but his eyes were just as fierce. "Because, you see, I wouldn't. I could never just sit by and let one of my friends rot in that place, traitor or not. We have to trust each other, Paws. Otherwise, we're no better than Death Eaters. That's why our family works."

"Well, good to know you have such a strict moral code. Funny coming from the guy who's stolen from nearly every store in Diagon Alley," a voice from behind stated. Harry's face went rigid. In a matter of seconds, he went back to the angry, sullen teenager Amelia Bones had brought to Hogwarts. Tess looked more shocked than anything else.

Before anyone could see the person's face, a little girl came streaking through the Great Hall and straight to Harry. "Arry!" she shouted happily. Harry's sullen expression melted only to be replaced by a genuine smile. It was quite striking on him, most of the room noticed. He picked the little girl up.

"Hey, Daisy," he greeted. "You been practicing the trick I showed you?" The little girl nodded furiously. "Let's see it then." Harry transfigured one of the forks into a coin and handed it to the little girl.

Daisy scrunched up her adorable face in concentration. She had honey blonde hair and warm hazel eyes. She reminded Dumbledore of the little girl in Tess's memory. "It's here," she stated, holding the coin between her fingers. "Then gone." The coin suddenly vanished. She reached to Harry's ear and pulled out the coin. "Then in you' ear!" she finished happily. Harry laughed.

"Very good, young grasshopper," he praised.

"You've been watching too many samurai movies," the voice stated yet again. The girl stepped forward. She was strikingly beautiful, same blonde hair as the little girl but with warm chocolate eyes. Harry's face lost the smile.

Tess ran up to the girl and hugged her. The girl hugged her back. After a while, Tess pulled away. "What happened? Why are you here? How did you get here?" Delia had to smile. Tess never changed.

"Yes, please tell us why you gave us the delight of your appearance." Harry's voice was dripping sarcasm.

Delia didn't seem fazed. "Oh Harry, your whores on Vertic Alley wanted me to say hi for them," she shot back. The Hogwarts staff was impressed. The girl shot back exactly what she was given.

Harry just smirked. "Why, did you catch them in bed with your boyfriend again?" Sirius and Remus were both somewhat amused. They knew this kind of bickering. It was the kind that James and Lily had, the kind that led to love if it hadn't already. Despite his harsh words, Harry seemed to be looking at the girl with a hunger, as if it had been too long since he'd seen her.

Tess bit back a groan. Delia and Harry could probably go back and forth like this for hours. "What's going on?" she repeated forcefully.

Delia tore her eyes off of Harry. (And damn, did he look good.) "One of the safe houses has been attacked," she explained. "We had to evacuate." The look on Tess's face was one of great fear, and Harry's jaw tightened.

"And?" he demanded impatiently.

"No one died," Delia reassured him. "A couple people had some minor injuries, but Stephanie will have them fixed up in no time."

He nodded. "I'm going to the Alley," he said abruptly, standing up and taking out Phin's old pocket watch.

"Harry…" Tess complained.

"I just have a little business to attend to," he replied, kissing the top of Daisy's head before turning back to his friend.

"No fights," Tess reminded him.

Harry smirked. "Yes, Mum." Winding the watch, he murmured the words, "Knockturn Alley" and was immediately gone.

Tess sighed. "He's going to get into a fight, isn't he?" she asked Delia, but the blonde girl didn't answer.

"He really hates me now, doesn't he?" she whispered sadly. Tess sighed. This was hard for her. She knew Harry didn't hate Delia. He loved her too much. Sadly, Harry was very stubborn.

"He doesn't hate you. He could never hate you," she comforted. "He loves you. That's why it hurts so much."

Delia snorted. "He doesn't love me. He doesn't love anyone."

Tess gave her old friend a look. "Don't let all that bullshit blind you, Del. Harry has a heart, and you know it. People who don't have hearts don't rescue little girls off the streets and give them a place to go," she emphasized. Tess knew Harry had a heart, knew it better than anyone else. It was hard for other people to understand, people who hadn't known the old Harry. But Tess remembered. She remembered the little black-haired boy who had rescued her, the boy who had brought her into a house full of laughter and love. She remembered the little boy who could name all the constellations in the sky, the one who looked at Bea with stars in his eyes. More than anything, she remembered the day that little boy broke, remembered how Phin had to hold him back as he screamed and thrashed and begged for it to be him. "Things will get better," she reassured Delia. They had to get better. She didn't think any of them could go on like this.

"I hope so," Delia sighed.

"Are you going to stay?" Tess asked eagerly.

"If you'll have me," the blonde stated, locking eyes with the headmaster.

"It would be a delight to have you at me school, Miss…"

"Grove," Delia finished. "Delia Grove. And that's my little sister, Daisy. She would have to stay as well."

The little girl looked up at the old man. "You' beard funny!" she crowed. Sirius and Remus both burst out laughing. Dumbledore himself smiled.

"Thank you," he said back to the little girl.

Tess, noticing how tired her friend looked, suggested, "Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap? I'll watch Daisy."

Delia looked relieved. "Thanks," she mumbled, kissing her little sister's forehead before she went.

Once the blonde disappeared, Dumbledore turned to Tess. "Explanation, Miss McKinnon?"

"Ready to see another memory?" Tess shot back. The headmaster nodded and went off to alert the Order members to come. She sighed. Harry was going to kill her.


	9. Memories and Making Out

**Hey! Sorry for the lack of updating. I've been in a bit of a personal funk, but it's all getting better now. Time for another memory, and some Harry/Delia interaction. Curious? Read on! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd have enough money to buy a pirate ship and threaten to throw my Intro teacher off the blank. *grins evilly***

Tess placed a memory inside the Pensive and stepped back, sighing. She knew Harry was going to get mad if he found out about this, but she wanted to help him somehow. Harry needed this, she knew. He needed people who were connected to his past. Harry hated talking about the past. To him, the first six years of his life hadn't existed. She sat down and pulled Daisy into her lap. The little girl bounced with unexplainable energy.

"Tessie, what 're we doin'?" Daisy asked sweetly. Despite everything, Tess smiled at her. It was hard not to smile at Daisy. Even Harry, the 'cold-hearted fighter', was under her spell. In fact, Harry had a special soft spot for Daisy. Tess suspected it was combination of the childlike innocence and the similarity to Bea that endeared the little girl to him.

"We're watching one of my memories," Tess explained quietly. "You have to be quiet so you can hear, okay?" The little girl nodded furiously. The memory began to play.

_A twelve year old Tess trailed alongside a twelve year old Harry. They were heading back to their hiding spot under the bridge. It was where they had set up camp temporarily before heading off to their next location. The two friends were looking for Horcuxes and following the leads Phin had left. Things had changed in two years. Harry's hair was longer, his frame taller and lanker, and his face rougher looking. What really had changed to Tess, however, was his eyes. Harry's green eyes, the ones that had always sparkled with joy, were empty. To her, this was probably the worst consequence of that Death Eater attack. Well, besides their family dying. Tess was also taller and her hair longer, but she had managed to maintain some child-like innocence. _

_After Phin died, Harry had taken them away from the house, collecting what they deemed valuable and burning the place down. Tess remembered tears running down her face at the sight. Harry had managed to find them a place to sleep. He took a slew of odd jobs, doing whatever he needed to in order to feed them. Tess worried about him a lot. He worked too hard in her opinion, but he wouldn't let her go into the city to work because he thought it was too dangerous. When Harry wasn't working, he tried to figure out the clues Phin had left them. Many times, Tess would wake up in the middle of the night to find Harry huddled over some clue, rereading it in the candlelight. _

_ "Hih-hoe, hih-ho, back home we go!" Tess sang cheerfully as she skipped along the street. Harry just gave her a look. "What?" the smaller girl defended. "I'm providing a soundtrack for our walk!"_

_ Before Harry could reply, Tess heard a horrible sound come from the inside of one of the alleys. Listening harder, she realized it was someone coughing. Ignoring Harry's pointed look, she took a step forward. What she found horrified and saddened her._

_ It was a girl, probably around their age, with blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. Tess's first thought was that she looked like Bea, and evidently it was Harry's as he couldn't stop staring at the blonde. Tess's second thought was that this girl needed help. She was coughing violently, and her hair was matted and dirty. Her clothes were in shreds, and her face was thin and gaunt. To make matters worse, there was a little baby besides her, probably only a year or so old. It was a girl with the same blonde hair, but her eyes were hazel. The baby seemed to be in shock. _

_ Tess kneeled down to the girl's level. "Hi, my name is Tess," she introduced. "What's yours?"_

_ "Delia," the girl introduced croakily. She pointed to the baby girl beside her. "My sister, Daisy."_

_ "It's nice to meet you," Tess replied gently. "Do you have somewhere to sleep?" The girl shook her head no. Tess turned to her friend. "Harry..."_

_ "Don't start," he warned. "We can't afford them, Tess. We can barely feed ourselves." Though Harry's words were true, they didn't stop Tess from fighting._

_ "Harry, we have to," Tess pleaded. "We owe it to Fiona." Those words made Harry stop and consider the two girls. Tess wasn't sure what registered in his mind, but whatever it was made him kneel down and look Delia in the eyes._

_ "Do you want to come home with us?" he asked gently. "We don't have much, but we'll share it with you." Delia nodded. _

_ Harry turned to Tess. "You carry the baby," he instructed. "I'll carry Delia. I doubt she can even walk right now." With that, he scooped up Delia and started to walk. Tess followed with Daisy. Their little family had just grown. _

Harry entered Knockturn Alley with his cloak up. He walked forward with purpose. It was never good to linger in Knockturn Alley, he had learned. After a few minutes, he found the store he was looking for. He entered, and a small bell that sounded remarkably like a shriek went off. Harry smirked. The people in the Alley were always for the creepy.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, how nice to see you again," a slimy voice greeted with a bow.

Harry bowed back. "The feeling is mutual, Mr. Borgin."

"Now, what can I do for you?" the old man asked. The boy was a good customer and a wonderful student. There was also the added bonus he didn't mind doing less than desirable deliveries. Harry only cared about making money, and Mr. Borgin can respect that.

"I need five Portkeys to be made to enter Hogwarts," Harry requested respectfully.

Mr. Borgin raised an eyebrow. "To Hogwarts?" he repeated. Illegal Portkeys weren't an uncommon request, but Hogwarts would be hard to enter with a Portkey. He didn't think it was possible. "That might be tricky..."

Harry grinned predatorily. "I thought you might say something like that." He pulled out a black and gold ring. Mr. Borgin examined it, and his eyes widened. "Is this..."

The black-haired boy nodded. "Yes."

"Consider this a deal, Mr. Potter," Mr. Borgin said.

"Excellent," Harry replied. "I'll be here around Halloween to pick them up." He exited the shop. Mr. Borgin laughed to himself.

"I wonder what House that boy would be sorted in," he mused to himself. No matter anyway. He had Portkeys to make. He certainly did not want to be on the bad side of a deal with that boy.

Two hours later, Harry entered back into Hogwarts, a little dirtier but not at all beaten up. Finding the Great Hall empty, he headed up to his room. Truthfully, he was happy for the lack of people in sight. He was tired of being interrogated by adults and scrutinized by everyone. Most of all, he was tired of hiding. Whispering the password, he stepped inside. He had to smile. The common room now looked lived in. Daisy's crayons were sitting on the table, and Tess had left her Witch's Weekly on the table. In fact, she and Daisy were curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. Trying to be quiet, he draped a blanket over two of his favorite girls.

"Well, who knew Harry Potter had a heart," Delia's voice teased softly. Harry turned around to see the girl in question observing him quietly.

"I went to Oz," he quipped.

Delia smiled faintly. "Witty."

"I thought so."

Delia studied the boy she'd loved for years. The same tough, strong mask was on his face and in his stance, but she could see a few cracks. Harry's shoulders were sagging slightly, and his eyes were lightly rimmed with bags. He was a little thinner than the last time she had seen him. "You look tired."

Harry shrugged. "Not really," he replied. Delia gave him a look. "Maybe a little. Nothing I can't handle, though."

Delia rolled her eyes. "Of course." Something, something she couldn't identify, made her step closer to him. Harry didn't stop her. "I missed you," she whispered.

"Ditto," Harry whispered back. Suddenly, Delia leaned over and kissed him. It made her happy to know that, no matter what changed, his kisses were still hot and sweet and soft and passionate. He ran his hands through her hair, and she started to pull at his shirt.

"My room?" she asked breathlessly. Harry nodded, leading her towards the room. Sure, they may fight in public, but Harry would always be hers behind closed doors. Delia soon lost her train of thought with Harry sucking on her neck. Ah, she thought happily, it's good to be back.


	10. Diagon Alley and a Death Eater Friend

Harry slipped out of Delia's bed early the next morning, careful not to wake the sleeping blonde. This had always been his favorite way to see Delia, sleeping and peaceful. If Harry believed in any sort of religion, he'd say she looked like an angel. Truthfully, he knew that part of his attraction to Delia could be accredited to the fact that she and Bea could've been twins. It was sick and wrong, yes, but true. It was part of the reason he couldn't say no to Tess when she asked to take Delia and Daisy in. Luckily, it wasn't a choice he'd come to regret. And while his attraction to Delia was partly because of Bea, there was another part of their relationship just because of Delia herself. Just because she was stubborn and beautiful and always matching him step by step. Delia could keep up, and that was something Harry could appreciate.

Creeping slowly out of the room, he looked around to make sure no one was there. Delia and he weren't exactly secret, but it wasn't something he wanted to broadcast. Once he was sure the coast was clear, Harry silently made his way back into his own room and started to get ready for the upcoming day. Since the term was due to start in only two weeks, Dumbledore had arranged for he and Tess to be escorted to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys. Though Harry had initially wanted to fight the old man on this, Tess had convinced him not to. He was slowly learning he had to pick his battles around Hogwarts. Delia was staying at the castle to complete her own placement tests, and Professor McGonagall had offered to watch Daisy.

Harry pulled on a clean t-shirt, a Pink Floyd one to be exact, and a semi-clean pair of jeans. They were a bit scuffed up but not bad. Throwing on his leather jacket, the only thing left of Phin he had kept, Harry grabbed his knapsack and started rummaging through it, looking for a book to pass the time with. The one he pulled out, however, was one he hadn't looked at in years.

_*flashback*_

"_Harry!" a five-year old Bea shouted, running down the hill that led to the tree they liked to meet at. It was peaceful, probably the quietest place in Privet Drive, and only a few minutes from both their houses. Bea's parents didn't care when she got home, but she knew Harry would be punished by his uncle if he was even a second late. _

_Harry didn't seem to hear her. He was leaning back against the tree trunk, his eyes glued to the sky. Bea loved Harry's eyes. They were bright green, like emeralds, and no one else she had ever met had eyes like his. Then again, no one else she knew was like Harry. _

_ Bea sat down beside her friend, pulling the ridiculous ribbon her mom had insisted matched her dress out of her hair. To her surprise, Harry greeted her. "Hey Bea," he said in his typical low voice. Harry never talked loud. It always meant bad things back at his house. "How was the party?"_

_ Bea made a face. "Horrible," she answered. "It was all about Emily." This statement was said with no malice or jealously, just plain fact. Harry and Bea were similar in the sense that neither of their families cared about them much. Though Harry definitely suffered physical abuse Bea didn't even want to imagine, both children were emotionally neglected. Bea was the mistake child and Harry the orphan._

_ "Sorry," Harry whispered, his eyes glued to the clouds._

_ Bea shrugged sadly. "It's okay," she replied. "Now I get to be here." This won a rare smile out of her best friend. A Harry smile, she had discovered, was a revelation, which her teacher had said meant discovery. _

_ The two friends just sat together, admiring the sky. Every few minutes Bea would say what she saw in the clouds. Harry would just nod, his eyes closed. Finally, Bea pulled a slim paperback book out of her purse. "I have something for you," she stated softly._

_ "Hmm?" Harry asked, opening his eyes. Bea handed him the book._

_ "Peter Pan," she said cheerfully. "I finished it yesterday. Thought you might like it."_

_ Harry grinned. "Thanks," he replied flipping the cover page open. Bea simply shrugged and rested her head against his shoulder. The two children loved to read, particularly fairytales. Though she had to sneak them to Harry, who would get in trouble for bringing them into the house, he still knew every word of each story. Magic was their escape, the only explanation for the weird things they could do. One day, Bea knew, they would escape for real, run away and find a place they belonged to. It was only a matter of time..._

Harry fingered the book's cover gently. It was in pretty good shape for the number of times he had read it. Fairytales had been his escape once, the thing he loved the most. Now, however, he had a hard time believing in them. Harry knew that princes didn't always slay the dragon, the villains sometimes won, and the prince didn't always get the princess.

"Harry!" Tess's voice called from outside the door. "We're leaving!" He put the book down and left the room. He was done believing in fairytales.

Harry and Tess walked through Diagon Alley with the Weasleys. Though he would've rather gone by himself, Harry had to admit that the Weasleys were alright. Mrs. Weasley reminded him remarkably of Fiona, and Mr. Weasley was amusing to say the least. He had already explained rubber ducks, remote controls, and erasers to the man so far. "Fascinating!" Mr. Weasley kept remarking. "How genius!" Harry and Tess would just look at each other and grin.

The kids weren't bad either. Ron Weasley was alright, if a bit bigoted, and Ginny Weasley was charming but smart, a lethal combination that immediately earned her Harry's respect and Tess's friendship. The two girls were giggling like they had been friends for years. Then again, Tess always seemed to have that affect on people. The group was also accompanied by Kingsley and Tonks for "protection", which Harry really knew meant babysitting. Dumbledore was keeping an eye on him, and he thought it to be extremely annoying. Harry did know it could be worse though. The old coot could've sent Mad-Eye with them.

Harry and Ron were just getting into a heated Quidditch argument in front of The Leaky Caldron when the black-haired teen spotted a familiar face: Lestrange. He immediately tensed, which Tess noticed right away. She too saw him. Soon there were at least ten Death Eaters surrounding them. Harry figured Voldemort had sent them just to spook some of Tom's customers, a smokescreen to cover up bigger plans. The Aurors and the elder Weasleys began shouting hexes, but they were surprised when Harry and Tess began doing the same thing. Ron and Ginny watched with amazement as Harry and Tess took down four of the ten Death Eaters.

Admist all the fighting, Harry smelt gunpowder, a scent he had always attributed to one single person. "Markus," he shouted. "Take that ridiculous mask off." One of the Death Eaters froze. The adults had managed to stun four Death Eaters themselves, but Lestrange and his brother had gotten away.

The mask came off, and Harry was greeted by a familiar face. "Hey Harry," Markus greeted. "Long time, no see."

"You could say that," Harry agreed.

"I heard you went AWOL," Markus replied.

Harry shrugged. "I've been here and there."

Markus smirked. "And everywhere?"

"Witty," Harry remarked.

"I thought so," Markus said. He saw the two Aurors standing next to Tess and narrowed his eyes. "Interesting company you're keeping these days, Potter."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I could say the same thing for you, Elbony. Please tell me you don't have one of those awful things on your arm."

Mark shook his head. "Nah, I didn't feel like my sister's ghost haunting me for the rest of my life."

Harry nodded. That did sound like something Grace would've done. "No one's seen you in a while."

Markus looked down at his feet. "I'm not welcome there," he stated.

Harry gave him a hard look. " Bullshit."

"It was my fault," Markus stated. "The attack was my fault."

Everyone looked confused, Tess included, but Harry's eyes showed understanding. "No, it wasn't," he insisted. "You weren't the traitor."

Markus shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I couldn't save them." That statement was something Harry could understand. It was survivor's guilt, something he had known for six years. It stung and hurt no matter what you told yourself. "I'm only with the Death Munchers so I can get that douchebag," the blonde-haired tan boy explained. "After that I'm done."

"That simple, huh?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Markus ignored him. "Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll be a top Auror. Then they'll give me the Kiss."

Tonks and Kingsley looked horrified. This kid could only be about sixteen, and he was dreaming of getting the Kiss! Harry frowned. "Grace would kill you for saying that and for doing what you're doing."

"And what am I doing, Harry?" Markus shouted. "Getting revenge? That's the same thing you're doing, isn't it?" Harry's jaw tightened. "The only difference between us that I'll probably get life in Azakban and you'll be a hero."

Harry was quiet because he knew what his old friend was saying was true. Both were soling existing on one emotion: hate. Without the hate, they'd be empty shells, no emotion left. "Fair enough," he agreed. "Just be careful. I'd hate to have to break you out of there."

Markus grinned. "No problem," he said, turning to leave. "Oh, and Scamp? I thought you might want this." He pulled a picture out of his mini knapsack and handed it to Harry. "I found it in my sister's stuff."

Harry studied it carefully before putting it in his pocket. "Thanks," he muttered. Markus nodded and started to walk away. "Boom!" Harry shouted. Markus turned around. "I'm not sure where Christmas will be this year, but there'll be a spot at the table for you. There always is." Markus nodded in appreciation and walked away.

There was silence as the Weasleys, Harry, and Tess made their way back to the Portkey destination. "Harry," Tess finally said. "Who was that?"

"An old friend," Harry answered vaguely.

"You're friends with a Death Eater?" Ron asked, disbelief written all over his face. Clearly, he didn't that that was acceptable Harry Potter behavior.

Harry gave him a dirty look. "Markus isn't a Death Eater. He's just a guy out for revenge."

"Revenge?" Tess questioned.

Harry sighed. "During a raid, an Auror trainee beat his older sister to death when she tried to protect their little sister. The little sister managed to get away, but then someone raped her several times and beat her to a pulp. Markus blames the Auror for both crimes."

Mrs. and Mrs. Weasley both stayed silent, suddenly a lot more aware of the horrors the green-eyed young man had seen in his life. Dumbledore would definitely hear about this.

"What's with the nicknames?" Ginny asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. "The people we lived with at the time gave us nicknames based on skills. I was a really good thief. Markus liked to experiment with explosvies." He didn't add that Fred and George had gotten help on their fireworks from Markus.

"What was the picture he gave you?" Tess asked softly. Harry said nothing, choosing instead to grab onto the Portkey. They were transported back to Hogwarts, where Tess hoped her friend would give her more answers. It was one of the downfalls of being Harry's friend that she never seemed to truly know him. No one ever did. Except for Bea. Tess, however, still had hope. Hope that things would get better, that old wounds would heal. Of course, she had no clue what kind of school year they were in for.


	11. The Sorting Hat's Nargles

The rest of summer flew by faster than any of them could've imagined. Frankly, it was the most relaxing month Tess could remember in a long time. There was no fear, no scrabble to find a safe place to sleep, no worrying about food or money. She always knew where Harry was. He didn't have to come back from an exhausting job, his body completely worn out. They could relax, if just for a little bit. Delia seemed to be enjoying it as well. She smiled more, looked healthier, more radiant. Daisy was having the time of her life exploring the castle. All of the professors, even Snape, had been charmed by her. The Order was at the castle regularly, and Tess got to know most of them. Tonks was hilarious and just the type of person who fit in with them. Mrs. Weasley still reminded her of Fiona, and Mr. Weasley was endless entertaining with all of his questions about Muggles. It was especially nice to see the Weasley twins again. Fred and George hadn't changed much, still the two biggest troublemakers in Great Britian. Now, however, they got paid for it.

The only person truly not enjoying the break was Harry. Sure, she saw him laugh and smile once in a while when Remus and Sirius told him stories about the Marauders or when Tonks changed her nose, but they were fleeting. There was nothing relaxed in his posture. She knew he could never be truly relaxed anymore, not after what happened to Bea, but she hoped it would've lessened over time. Still, at least Tess got to see him happy sometimes. They played Quidditch and lots of pokers with Ron, Ginny, and Delia and told old stories. Harry was still a great storyteller, and even Dumbledore sat there riveted as Harry told yet another tale. Tess like watching him tell stories. It reminded her of the old Harry, the one who smiled more and trusted easier.

One night, after Harry had told his story for the night, Daisy looked at him with the wide-eyed innocence of a child and asked, "Where 're you' stories f'om?"

Harry just smiled at her and tapped his head. "Right up here," he answered. "In my head."

Delia raised an eyebrow. Inwardly Harry smirked. Of course she didn't miss a chance to fight with him. "You made up all those stories?" she asked, skepticism clear in her voice.

The look in Harry's eyes changed, no longer joking. "I never said I came up with all of them," he answered quietly. "I picked up some on the streets, some from traveling, and some..." Harry stopped. "A friend helped me make them up. She loved stories even more than I did."

"Loved?" Ginny repeated. "Does she not like stories anymore?"

Harry and Tess shared a look, neither of them wanting to bring it up. Unfortunately for Tess, Harry got out of it first. "I'm going to bed," he announced, getting up from his seat in the Great Hall. Everyone watched as the Boy-Who-Lived walked out.

"What's wrong with him?" Ron mumbled.

Tess gave him a sad smile. "Our friend died a few years ago," she explained. "Harry doesn't like to talk about it."

Ginny, remembering the guy from Diagon Alley, asked, "Does it have anything to do with that Markus guy? You know, the Death Eater?"

"Death Eater?" Sirius repeated, appalled. "My godson's friends with a Death Eater?"

Tess simply shrugged as if it didn't surprise her. "Usually Harry hates Death Eaters with a passion. I don't know what was up with that."

Daisy spoke up. "He's a st'eet 'at," she stated cheerfully.

Delia looked at her sister sternly. "Daisy, that's not a very nice thing to say to someone," she scolded.

The little girl shook her head furiously, trying to make her sister understand. "That what 'Arry calls 'im," she explained.

A light bulb went off in Tess's head. "Oh, he's one of the Street Rats. That explains it."

"A what?" Sirius asked, a confounded look on his face.

"They're the people Harry first lived with when he escaped," she explained. "They know more about him than I do. Then again, they've known him longer. And they had Bea..."

"Your friend," Remus guessed. Tess nodded.

"She always knew Harry best. Bea could handle him," Tess said softly. "Sometimes it felt like they were one person instead of two."

"What happened to her?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.

Tess went to open her mouth, but no words came out. She still couldn't talk about that day, that horrible day. She still remembered every detail. She remembered someone breaking down the front door and charging into the kitchen. She remembered Phin shouting at them to run, shouting stunners at the Death Eaters. She remembered grabbing Harry's hand and taking off, Harry in the middle. She remembered hearing Bellatrix torture Fiona, her screams petrifying. She remembered Bea tripping on a stump, losing grip of Harry's hand. She remembered that, even before Harry could move to help her, a burst of green light hitting Bea right in the chest. She remembered Harry being frozen in place, her forcing him to keep moving. She remembered Phin retrieving them hours later, his eyes blood-shot. Most of all, she remembers Harry's howls when he saw Bea's dead body, how Phin had to hold him back from going and doing something stupid. She remembered the moment Harry Potter broke.

Finally, she responded, "I can't... I just can't..." For the first time in a while, Tess broke out into sobs. Delia moved towards her, pulling close and whispering reassuring things into her ears.

Dumbledore sat there, his musings disturbed. What could have this remarkably strong young woman breaking down into hysterical sobs? Better yet, what kind of damage could this have done to Harry? How long had he been devoid of emotion, of feeling? Would he still be able to take on Voldemort? The headmaster decided to keep a close eye on Harry if not because of the prophecy but also for James and Lily, who would've hated seeing their son in such pain.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore requested that Harry, Tess, and Delia take the train to Hogwarts simply for the experience. Harry, too tired to argue with the old coot, agreed. Professor Snape agreed to watch Daisy while they were gone since the young girl was scared of trains. She had had the greasy bat wrapped around her finger the day she found a blue lily outside and decided it would be a nice present for "Professor Sevy" as she nicknamed him. This had caused both Harry and Ron to burst out into laughter. Harry was starting to get close to the youngest Weasley son as well as Ginny. Sure, he wasn't going to trust them with any of his deepest darkest secrets, but they were good company.<p>

Getting to the train a bit early, they set out to find a compartment. Harry and Tess immediately started playing poker, something they had been addicted to since their days at Fiona's. Harry always won, but Tess still played in hopes of winning one day. Ron left to go on perfect duty while Ginny went to go find a Dean Thomas. Delia simply propped up her feet and closed her eyes.

The first one of their friends to find them was Luna. She simply appeared at the door, not making a sound.

"Hey Luna," Harry greeted, not even looking up from his cards.

"Hello," she said. Tess nearly jumped out of her seats.

"Luna, you scared the crap out of me!" she exclaimed, glaring at Harry who was laughing.

The blonde girl looked thoughtful before stating, "You have too many Nargles. They're infesting your brain."

Harry nodded much to Tess's dismay. "That makes sense," he agreed. Luna smiled her odd smile at him. "How's the Quibbler doing?"

"Good," Luna responded cheerfully. "Daddy really appreciated that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks sighting evidence you sent him."

He shrugged. "No problem."

"Sit down, Luna," Tess requested, and so the blonde girl sat next to her. The compartment was soon filled with friendly chatter, perfectly undisturbed until a familiar figure appeared.

"Theo!" Tess squealed, rushing up and giving him a huge hug as was her way. Theo rolled his eyes slightly but returned the hug.

"Hey Nott," Harry greeted with a nod.

"Potter," Theo acknowledged in his usual manner. Of course, the Nott heir brightened up a bit when he saw Luna. "Hi, Luna," he added. Theo was one of the few Slytherin who didn't call Luna Loony.

"Hello, Theodore," Luna replied, her nose stuck in the latest edition of the Quibbler. She was the only person allowed to call him Theodore. Harry had tried once, and the results hadn't been pretty.

Delia awoke amongst the ruckus going on in their compartment. She yawned and stretched out, nodding a greeting to Luna and Theo. Harry smirked. "Morning, sleep beauty," he mocked.

"Go fuck yourself," Delia retorted immediately, yawning into her hand.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Has anyone ever told you guy that you would make a lovely couple?"

"It's the Nargles," Luna quipped. Upon seeing her friends' confusion, she elaborated. "Whenever Delia and Harry are around each other, the numbers of Nargles they have doubles."

Delia and Harry shared a look before bursting out in laughter. Not they were making fun of Luna in any way, because they weren't. It was just the right moment. It had been too long since they had laughed together. The laughter was contagious, and soon people were coming by their compartment to see what was going on.

Yes, Tess thought to herself, my friends are crazy, but it's kind of a good crazy. The kind of crazy that just might keep them together. Hopefully...

* * *

><p>The train ride went by quickly. The five friends played poker, which Harry continually won, and Exploding Snap, which Theo won. Luna read parts of the Quibbler to them. Halfway through the ride, Tess fell asleep. Theo and Luna both pulled out books while Harry simply turned to enjoy the scenery. Delia simply watched him.<p>

It was hard to believe how much they both had changed since they first met. She remembered being twelve and scared, with Daisy to take care of and nowhere to turn. She remembered Harry and Tess spotting her in that alley. Tess had recognized something in Delia that reminded her of herself. Later on, when Delia had heard Tess's story, she would know why the brunette girl fought so hard to take her and Daisy with them. Tess still remembered what it was like to be cold and alone on the streets, with no hope and no one to help you. Of course, Delia had been fascinated with Harry from the first moment. There was something cold about him, something that had been hardened deep inside long before they met, and yet there was something else too. Later on, Delia realized that if Harry had really been against taking her and Daisy, he wouldn't have taken them. Nothing Tess said had convinced him. No, it was something in his heart, in the one place he wouldn't let her in. It was already taken by another blonde haired girl, one that she simply couldn't match up to no matter how hard she tried.

"Delia?" The blonde girl turned to look at Tess. "We're here," she announced. Having already changed into their robes earlier, the group headed out. Delia studied Harry's face before he noticed.

"Like what you see?" he smirked.

Delia rolled her eyes. "In your dreams," she replied, walking saucily in front of him. If there was one thing she knew about Harry Potter, it was that he loved a chase.

* * *

><p>Delia, Harry, and Tess said goodbye to Luna and Theo as they headed over towards Hagrid with the first years, who looked at them with wide eyes.<p>

"Hey 'Arry," Hagrid said. "How ye doin'?"

"Good," Harry responded.

"You three can share a boat," Hagrid instructed. He turned to Harry. "No scaring the 'irst years!"

Harry pouted. "Hagrid, do you really think so little of me?" he fake-moaned. Hagrid just gave him a knowing look. "Fine," he huffed. Both Tess and Delia giggled at his ridiculousness.

The boat ride to the castle was beautiful, though the attempt by Harry to push Tess into the water was not appreciated. They entered the castle and waited by the Great Hall doors. Professor McGonagall nodded curtly when she saw the three, but Harry knew she was excited. The Transfiguration teacher had developed a soft spot for Harry, and the teen was always on his best manners around her.

She went into the usual speech about Houses, which Harry sort of tuned out. He had heard this before from Phin one time. When they were ten, Bea, Harry, and Tess had wanted to know every single thing about Hogwarts imaginable even if Phin and Fiona had decided to tutor them at home. He learned about the friendly house elves in the kitchen, all the secret passageways, how Peeves was always willing to help you cause some chaos.

Finally, the Great Hall doors opened, and the first years walked in. Harry, Delia, and Tess followed. The Sorting Hat sang a witty song, and the sorting went on. Once all of the first years had been sorted, Dumbledore stood up. "We have three six years students joining us: Delia Grove, Tess McKinnon, and Harry Potter," he announced. There was suddenly a lot of muttering around the room. Harry rolled his eyes.

Professor McGonagall held up her parchement and read, "Grove, Delia." With a wink to her friends, Delia walked up to the stool, waving to Daisy on the way who was seated at the staff table next to Professor Snape. McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"_Hmm... Not a bad mind to be sure. You're also extremely loyal. Helga would've fought for you. Slytherin's not an option, I'm afraid. You care too little for worldly gains to be a snake. Your only true goal is to keep the ones you love safe. So, it better be..."_

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted. Delia beamed and went to sit down next to Ron and Ginny.

"McKinnon, Tess." Tess walked up to the stool, and McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"_A lot like your friend, Miss McKinnon. You're smart and loyal, but there's also cunning in you. A thirst to prove yourself, to avenge those whom you lost. But you don't like to hurt people. Your loyalty doesn't extend to many, does it? Yes, Hufflepuff is not the place for you. Neither is Ravenclaw. You have too much energy for them."_

So either Gryffindor or Slytherin?, Tess asked mentally.

"_Do you have a preference, Miss McKinnon?_" the Hat asked.

Gryffindor, Tess answered firmly. I've known too many bad Slytherins.

"_Fair enough," _the Hat responded. "GRYFFINDOR!" Tess went to join Delia at the Lion's table.

"Potter, Harry." Harry walked up to the stool, no nervousness or fear traceable on him. People stared at him. He had fun with it, even winking at some fourth year girls who promptly turned red. With a stern look, Professor McGonagall put the Hat on Harry's head.

"_Now your head is an interesting one, Mr. Potter... I haven't seen a mind this complex in many years. This should be fun." _The Hat paused for a moment. "_Needless to say, I think all four Founders would've fought for you. You value loyalty above all else and would never betray a friend no matter what, even going as far as breaking a law. How did you break into... Never mind. Helga would've wanted you badly, but she would've lost. Yes, your loyalty is life-long, but only to those who have earned it. Rowena would've wanted you as well. You know the value of intelligence as well as the value of logic, which is sorely lacking in the Wizarding World today. You know there is more to knowledge than books and homework, something the average Ravenclaw can't seem to grasp."_

_ "The real battle, however, would've been between Godric and Salazar. You have five times the bravery of most people. You do want you need to do, caution thrown aside. Your fear level is really nonexistent. Then again, after seeing into your head, I can see why... Still, you're cunning and resourceful, and you have a certain disregard for the rules without completely breaking them. You do what's necessary to survive and never apologize for it. You embrace darkness; it doesn't scare you like it does Dumbledore. You know that darkness is necessary for there to be light."_

_ "The real question, Mr. Potter, is whether you want to be good or great? You'd achieve greatness in Slytherin, but you'd be good in Gryffindor. Your choice."_

Harry thought about it for a moment. He remembered Bea and her warm smile all those nights by their tree before running away. He remembered her soft voice reassuring him, "We're not going to be like them, Harry." He remembered the way she seemed to light everything up, the way she dazzled. He remembered how she never picked up money off the streets no matter how hungry they were. "Let someone else have a good day," she'd say. Harry could never fight with her. Bea always wanted things to be good. She wanted him to be happy.

Good, he answered, I want to be good.

"_Interesting choice, Mr. Potter. I would like the chance to explore your head more? Find me the next time you're in Dumbledore's office."_

Okay, Harry replied.

"GRYFFINDOR!"


	12. Babes, Bikes, and Sean Barthel

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. School sucks, enough said. So now Harry, Tess, and Delia are at Hogwarts, and there are plenty of surprises around every corner. Vague, I know, but deal with it! *smiles* Please don't forget to review! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm just a wannabe writer with a computer. **

Hogwarts was buzzing with the energy of a new year as well as a whole stream of new gossip. The most talked-about topics were the three new transfer students: Delia Grove, Tess McKinnon, and Harry Potter. Of the three, Harry Potter was the most talked about, but he didn't outshine the girls. All boys were now fantasizing about the gorgeous Gryffindors. Tess, bubbly and vivacious with bright blue eyes and brown hair, was always surrounded by people, particularly boys. Delia, quieter than Tess but no less beautiful with blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, was usually seen with a select few. The boys quickly learned, however, that there was a risk to flirting with said girls. His name was Harry Potter.

The boy was a complete enigma to most, not able to predict or manipulate. He was friends with people from every house and didn't really care about the long-standing system. He was definitely good-looking with shagging black hair and alluring green eyes as well as well-defined muscles. There was something dangerous about Harry, something hard that attracted girls like flies. He didn't seem to have eyes for any of them, though his eyes occasionally wandered over to Delia when she wasn't looking.

Even the teachers were stumped. The three teens knew spells that they didn't know, that had been long forgotten by Wizarding Britain. Delia and Tess seemed to excel in the theory aspect of the work while Harry preferred the practical. Of course, he consistently turned in flawless assignments. There was no doubt they were bright and talented.

And while Delia and Tess were content at Hogwarts, Harry was getting restless. He wasn't used to be trapped in a castle. He missed the sounds of the city, the familiar things he had gotten used to. Sure, Harry was glad to see some of his friends at Hogwarts, but he didn't like being monitored.

Then, one day, the Gryffindors were sitting in Transfiguration when there was a loud roar coming from outside. Tess sat up immediately, recognizing the sound. She waited for it again. When it didn't, she slouched again. But then the roar became much louder. Now the whole class heard it. Delia and Harry both looked at Tess. They knew that sound too. Harry looked especially anxious.

McGonagall walked towards the window. The three friends leaned forward to see what was going on. There, sitting on a dark enchanted motorcycle, was Sean. His face, though not as sunken in as before, still had a haunted look to it. His smile, however, was wide. Their Head of House opened the window and yelled out, "Young man, just what do you think you're doing?"

Sean smiled charmingly. "Visiting friends, ma'am," he said. By then, Harry, Tess, and Delia were at the window. Harry just kept looking at the bike in awe. The dark-haired boy just smirked. "Nice bike you have here, Harry," he taunted.

Harry glared at him. "One scratch, and I swear..." he threatened.

Sean rolled his eyes. "Meet me outside, and I'll give you the keys." Harry took off immediately. McGonagall looked distinctively flustered. Tess and Delia grinned and ran after him. The Transfiguration teacher just sighed.

Dumbledore was immediately informed of the new arrival. He was greeted at the front door of the school. The new boy had his arm slung around Tess and was talking animatedly to Harry. For once, Delia and Harry weren't fighting. Instead, they held hands casually. There was no suspicious look in Harry's eyes, no stiff posture from Delia, or frown lines around Tess's mouth. There was a peace to the group, a way of being that seemed comfortable.

"How'd you fix my bike?" Harry practically demanded to know.

Sean smirked. "That creepy dude who works at the bar next to the shoe store."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "E.T.?"

Sean nodded. "Turns out his sister is a mechanic. A little..." he paused. "Special attention thrown her way, and she was more than willing to help." Tess smacked him hard on the arm. "Of course, she wasn't nearly as pretty as you, Tessie!" The brunette smiled triumphantly.

Harry just shook his head. Three damn years working on that bike, working out all the enchantments, and all Sean has to do to get it to run is make out with a bartender's sister?

"So how's the grub here?" Sean asked eagerly.

Harry shrugged. "Better than Stephanie's but not as good as Old Mam's."

Sean gave Harry a look. "Ground-up rocks are better than Stephanie's cooking!"

Tess gave him a look. "I'll make sure to tell Stephanie that," she replied. The dark-haired boy paled.

"Please don't tell her I said that," he begged. Tess just smirked while Harry and Delia smiled.

"Make it worth my while," she challenged.

"I'll be your loyal slave forever," Sean proposed cheekily. He got down. "A ride for the lady?" Tess just hopped on his back. Sean took off towards the castle, causing the brunette to giggle incessantly. Harry and Delia stayed behind, Harry clutching his keys possessively.

Delia rolled her eyes. "It's a bike, not a girl, Harry," she reminded him. He only nodded absentmindedly, taking in the beauty of his bike. She huffed. "So are we going for a ride or what?"

That immediately got Harry's attention. "I don't have any helmets," he told her.

"I know."

"No safety features at all."

"I figured."

"You could literally die on this ride."

"Really?"

"Who are you, and what did you do to Delia?"

"Locked up in a broom closet."

Harry smiled. "Alright then." He got on and helped Delia up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly. Harry revved up the engine, and they took off into the sky, exploring the Hogwarts grounds. For the first time in a while, the two simply enjoyed the other's company. It was nice, wonderful even, but Delia knew it wouldn't last. It never did.

Sean Barthel was sorted into Gryffindor later that night. No one was surprised.


	13. Harry Fights the Ferret

**Hey! Sorry I haven't update in a bit. The lethal combination of too much homework and too little inspiration have kept me from doing so. Plus, I was trying to take some of your reviews to heart, and so I went back and reworked some of the chapters. Hope I cleared up some stuff! Anyway, Harry's starting to get antsy in the castle, and it shows. What will everyone's favorite reckless Gryffindor do? Read to find out!**

By the end of September, most Hogwarts students were starting to settle in. The gossip mill died down, summer stories previously funny were forgotten, and everyone started to get buried in homework. Harry Potter, however, couldn't be more restless. It had been ten years since he'd been at a regular school, six since he'd had what anyone would call semi-formal schooling. Of course, Harry hadn't really liked school as a kid, not until he met Bea. Before her, school was just another place he got picked on. When Bea became his friend, Harry began to look forward to school, one of the few places he could see his friend. Harry was never allowed to get better grades than Dudley, but that didn't stop him from reading. It was a habit Harry had always kept up. When he and Bea ran away and started to live with the Street Rats, as they had been dubbed by local coppers, he always nicked books from shops and listened closely on street corners. There were stories everywhere, and Harry wanted to hear them.

Fiona and Phin had had their own version of school, but Harry and Bea didn't mind it so much. Fiona taught them Potions, Healing, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Arithmancy as well as the Muggle subjects of Social Studies, Mathmatetics, Biology, English, and Accounting. Phin taught them Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Occlumency, Dueling, and Muggle Defense. It wasn't easy for Tess to transition into at first, but she caught in eventually.

After their deaths, Harry had done his best to find them competent teachers. He learned that many of the shopkeepers in Knockturn had something to teach if you did them a favor. From them they learned some of the Dark Arts, mostly curses and hexes, advanced Potions, Legilimency, and some other things Harry would probably not admit to if on trial. He and Tess traveled to different countries to study the magic there. It was abroad that Harry learned about Horcruxes.

So yes, Hogwarts was a little unsettling for him. Harry wasn't used to the structure, the calmness of it all. There was no immediacy. These students knew they'd have time to learn what they needed to know. Harry had never known that luxury.

Sean's appearance made things a bit more bearable. He did love Tess and Delia (even when he wouldn't admit it), but being around two girls all the time drove him nuts. He needed another guy, someone to take his side or be willing to pull a stupid prank. No one was better for that than Sean.

Still, Harry could feel himself itching for a fight, which was why Malfoy seemed to grate on his nerves more than usual. Draco Malfoy was a pompous spoiled brat who always ran to Daddy with his pitiful problems. This kid was everything Harry hated about the Wizarding World. Of course, Malfoy didn't seem to like him much either. Maybe it was because he recognized Harry as a threat to his power or maybe just because Harry didn't act like a wizard but a Muggle.

"Just ignore him," Tess would advise whenever Harry brought it up.

Harry was walking to Transfiguration with Sean when Malfoy appeared with his matching baboons. Honestly, how much of a pansy was this kid? "Potter," Malfoy sneered. "Want to know something interesting?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're secretly in love with Goyle? How utterly fascinating! I kind of suspected it already." Sean laughed, causing Malfoy's face to go red.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "You better watch out, Potter. You never know would could happen to filthy Mudbloods these days." He smiled sadistically. "Or their friends." It was a subtle taunt, but a taunt nonetheless. Malfoy knew, Harry realized. He knew about Fiona and Phin and Bea. Harry's temper flared up.

"That a threat, Malfoy?" he growled. Harry didn't respond to threats well.

"Malfoys don't threat, Potter," Malfoy stated. "They promise. Besides, Aunt Bella didn't get to play with her food last time."

That was Harry's breaking point. He took a swing at Malfoy, but Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward. Harry smirked. It'd been a while since he'd fought guys this big.

"Harry," Sean warned. Harry ignored his friend and ducked as Goyle tried to hit him. He twisted Goyle's arm back, causing the boy to groan in pain, and cracked it. A nice clean break, just like Ralph had taught him. Goyle still tried to fight Harry, but the black-haired boy was too fast. Harry was involved in his fight that he didn't see Sean slip away.

* * *

><p>Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the late Gryffindor. "You're late, Mr. Barthel." It didn't seem to have much effect on the boy, whose eyes went immediately towards Tess.<p>

"Harry's fighting again," he said. McGonagall's eyes widened. Some of the Gryffindors seemed surprised too. Apparently their golden boy wasn't living up to the expected standards of the Boy-Who-Lived. Then again, the professor knew Harry could care less what they thought of him.

Tess, on the other hand, didn't seem surprised. "Who?" she asked, almost bored with the topic. And she was. Harry got into a lot of fights. Unless he was hurt, she didn't care much.

"Malfoy and his goons." That got Tess's attention. Of all the people at Hogwarts, Harry probably hated Albus Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy the most. Harry hated Dumbledore because he was "a manipulative old coot who should keep his crooked nose out of people's lives". Malfoy, on the other hand, had Harry's hate for many reasons. The first and foremost reason was that he was related to the Lestranges. It didn't help that the Malfoys were pureblood bigots with pompous attitudes.

"Shit," she mumbled. Delia, who'd been listening as well, nodded in agreement. "Let's go!" The two girls followed, Professor McGonagall and that Transfiguration class not far behind.

It wasn't long until they found Harry. The fight seemed to be dying down. Crabbe was running out of energy, and it looked like Goyle was hurt. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be full of energy. He had Malfoy pinned against the wall, wand at his throat.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall trilled. Harry ignored the professor, not at all worried about the punishment he was going to get.

"I can decimate you with a wand, Malfoy," he hissed. "Don't forget that." He realized Malfoy, who nodded dumbly and dragged his two goons away. Harry smiled but winced at the soreness of his jaw. Goyle had gotten a good punch in with his other arm.

"MR. POTTER!" McGonagall yelled. Harry turned and looked at her.

"Yes?" Harry asked, looking bored.

"Fighting is simply unacceptable behavior at Hogwarts," she started to lecture. "Any more of this undignified behavior, and you will be suspended and possibly expelled. You will apologize to Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Goyle, and Mr. Crabbe..."

"No way in hell," Harry growled.

"You will show me respect, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said threateningly. Harry rolled his eyes. When it came down to it, all adults were the same: demanding respect they hadn't earned. He hadn't expected the Hogwarts professors to be any different. Harry knew he was burning a bridge here, but he just couldn't give a shit. Something vital was missing at Hogwarts, and Harry knew exactly what it was.

* * *

><p>*<em>flashback* <em>

"_I want to go to Hogwarts," Bea confessed. Harry looked up. They were laying on their shared bed, heads against the headboard. Tess was already asleep. She was always the first one asleep, making it easy for Harry and Bea to have these night talks. It wasn't that they didn't want Tess to hear what they were talking about but that she just wouldn't understand. They considered Tess one of them, yes, but she was new to their group. Bea knew Harry like the back of her hand and vice versa. _

_ "You know we won't," Harry pointed out. Fiona and Phin had told them that much. They were worried Dumbledore would try to take Harry away from them. Harry didn't want to be under that old coot's thumb. He wanted to stay here, with Fiona and Phin and Bea and Tess, close to the streets and his old life._

_ Bea nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I wish I could. Just think, all those moving stairwells and talking paintings. It would be like living a fairytale."_

_ Harry laughed. "We're already living a fairytale, Bea. Two kids ran away from home for a better life and were taken in by a kindly older couple who taught them magic? How much more fairytale can you get?" He didn't mention the Street Rats, but he didn't have to._

_ Bea rolled her eyes. "I still want to go there, just once. Promise we'll go? One day?" She held out her pinky. _

_ Harry interlocked it with his own. "Promise."_

* * *

><p>"Fuck you," Harry responded, his eyes hardened. Hogwarts was the last place on Earth he wanted to be right now.<p>

McGonagall was speechless. "Mr. Potter! Headmaster's office, now!" The Gryffindors watched in shock. No one had ever said anything like that to a professor before. Harry just followed, not that worried about the consequences. Then again, he never really was.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore sighed, looking at the rebellious young man in front of him. He rarely had to deal with fights, or at least physical fighting. There were always a couple of hot-headed duels that quickly resolved. Though he had a feeling that Harry had been provoked, he still worried about the boy's violent reaction. Dumbledore, though not getting much of a read on Harry, didn't doubt his heart. Harry seemed to sincerely love his friends, and other observations seemed to confirm this. Still, this kind of behavior was unacceptable.<p>

"Harry, your punishment will lie with your Head of House, but I want to emphasize the unacceptableness of your behavior. Hogwarts is not the streets, and I do not want you to treat it as such. You're safe here. You have my word"

Harry laughed, a bitter sound that seemed too natural. "No offense, Professor, but your word doesn't mean much to me. It shouldn't be worth much to anyone with a brain."

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall shouted. "You will respect Professor Dumbledore or..."

"Or what?" Harry asked. "You'll expel me? Good! Then I can go back to my life."

"Harry, my boy, what I did, placing you with your relatives, was for your own good..." Dumbledore tried to explain.

Harry wasn't having it. "No, sir, it was for your best interests. You and your fucking Greater Good. Want to know what I think of the 'Greater Good'? I think it's bullshit."

"I know you're young, and so you couldn't possibly understand..." Dumbledore tried.

Harry's eyes turned hard. "Yes, I do understand. I understand that people have to die for your Greater Good. For you to win, other people have to lose. How is that for the Greater Good?" With that, Harry left, leaving both Dumbledore and McGonagall with many thoughts.

* * *

><p>Tess stared at the door anxiously. Harry still wasn't back from Dumbledore's office. Hopefully Harry hadn't done anything else stupid...<p>

"He'll be fine," Delia reassured her friend, sensing Tess's thoughts. "Harry's an idiot, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to attack a teacher."

"Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence," Harry sniped from behind her chair. He sat down next to Sean and glared at the nearby first years, who immediately scattered.

"What happened?" Tess asked, her eyebrows scrunched in worry.

Harry shrugged. "Threatened to expel me," he mentioned casually.

Sean laughed while Delia gaped at him. "You idiot!" she mumbled under her breath.

Tess just studied her old friend carefully. "Harry, what did Malfoy say?" she just looked at her. "I know he said something because even when you're this wound up you don't just go take a swing at whoever you want."

"Malfoy said that I should be careful because things happened to 'filthy Mudbloods' these days and that Bella didn't get to play with her food last time."

Tess seemed to light on fire at that. "I'm going to get that ferret!" she growled, startling several Gryffindors who were already scared of Harry.

Harry smiled sadistically. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy went missing that morning. Though a school-wide search was implemented, he wasn't found until three days later. Madam Pomfrey couldn't figure out why he kept muttering about bouncing ferrets and had him transferred to the psych wing of St. Mungo's. None of Gryffindor said a word.<p> 


	14. The Shadow's Patronus

**Hey! Sorry about my lapse in updates. School is starting to get hectic because of finals, and I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to update. (There's that, and the fact that I can no longer go on fanfiction at school, which is when I'd usually post.) Still, I promise to do the best that I can. In the last chapter, I showed a more violent side to Harry, the one that most people see. In this chapter and the next one, however, I want to explore a different side of Harry, the rarer softer side that only exists with a few people. I'll try to do this in a way that won't make you guys complain I'm turning Harry soft, but no guarantees! Hope you enjoy! Disclaimer (that according to the guest speakers (law students studying Social Media law) in my Journalism class is actually useless because fanfiction is NOT a copyright infringement): I do not own Harry Potter. *fake shocked expression* Gee, really? Who would've guessed?**

After his fight with Crabbe and Goyle and Malfoy's hospitalization, most students began to avoid Harry, recognizing him as someone not to mess with. This suited the private boy just fine, and he continued on as if nothing had changed. Albus Dumbledore, however, watched the behavior of his newest pupil carefully. Harry was the first student in a long time that he couldn't predict or manipulate, and this worried the aging Headmaster to no end. The boy was truly an enigma, much like Tom Riddle had first been at Hogwarts. Like with Tom, the majority of the teachers liked Harry, often praising his spellwork. Even Snape would grudgingly admit that Potter had some potions talent. Only Umbridge could say anything negative about the boy, and that didn't worry him much.

No, what was truly strange about Harry Potter was the people he associated with. Harry didn't seem to care much for the House system, and you could see him sitting with practically any house. At Ravenclaw, he sat with Luna Lovegood, a good sort of girl if not a bit strange. They were often joined by Tess, Delia, Sean, and Theodore Nott. It was these kinds of associations that worried Dumbledore. Though Severus assured him Theodore was a good student if not a bit quiet, he knew that the boy's father was a Death Eater. Another association that worried him was the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astoria, whose family practiced some of the old pureblood traditions but was usually neutral. There were some Gryffindors in Harry's circle, much to Dumbledore's relief. Ginny and Ron Weasley could often be seen with Harry's group, and sometimes Neville Longbotton tagged along as well.

Still, there was something about the boy he didn't like, something too rebellious. Harry was a warrior, that much he knew, but he wasn't the kind of warrior Dumbledore could control. He wasn't the kind of fighter Dumbledore liked because he didn't know just what the boy was fighting for. (Really, it just wasn't for the Greater Good, which bothered the man because Harry was supposed to fight for the Greater Good, a valiant Gryffindor in gold and scarlet. There was far too much green and silver in the boy.)

Dumbledore sat and watched the feast with his signature grandfather smile, manipulations spinning around in his head. He never noticed Harry rolling his eyes at him from the Hufflepuff table, where he was sitting with Tess, Delia, Sean, Susan Bones, and Justin Finch-Fletchly.

"Manipulative old coot," Harry muttered to himself. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He took a bite of his potatoes and listened to Tess and Justin explain the basics of Muggle martial arts to Hannah and Susan. Susan Bone was definitely not your stereotypical Hufflepuff, headstrong and tough with no apologies, much like her aunt. Exactly the kind of girl he could befriend. Hannah Abbott, in contrast, was sweet and gentle. Despite her gentle personality, however, Harry had no doubt she could pack a punch when she wanted to. Justin, on the other hand, could've been in Ravenclaw for his keen intelligence.

Harry was snapped out of his musings about his Hufflepuff friends when a Patronus appeared in front of him. It was a tiny songbird. "Harry... need...help..." the bird chirped softly, only almost too soft for him to hear.

"Shit," he cursed, catching the attention of his friends at the table. Tess, who had been scooping some treacle tart onto her plate, looked up worriedly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Harry didn't reply. He picked at his dessert and glanced over at the professors. Before Tess could ask anything, Dumbledore stood up and dismissed the students.

Instead of heading to the Gryffindor dorms, Harry went towards the castle's entrance. Tess didn't say anything, knowing it would blow his cover, but she looked worried nonetheless. Sean took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Don't worry," he said. "Harry's a big boy. He can take care of himself." Despite herself, Tess laughed and followed him up to the dorms. Harry could take care of himself, she reminded herself. It was just hard for her to remember sometimes.

Tess, Delia, and Sean were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, oblivious to the chatter going on around them. No one had seen Harry since dinner, and there was once again more gossip about the rebellious Boy-Who-Lived. If Tess hadn't been anxiously watching the door, she would've laughed at the ridiculous rumors floating around. They ranged from Harry training to defeat Voldemort to him being involved in a high stakes underground drug deal.

Finally, after an hour of them waiting, Harry crept into the common room. In his arms was a girl, probably around fourteen years old, who had obviously been beaten. The side of her face was covered with a nasty purple bruise, and Tess would bet that similar bruises covered the rest of the poor girl's body. She didn't recognize her face and assumed it was one of Harry's street friends. Despite having lived there a short while, Tess had never concerned herself a street kid and never pretended to be. Harry and Bea both had, and they made it a point to keep up with their old friends. Tess knew a few of their faces, but Harry mostly visited them on his own.

Harry looked over at Tess, worry in his eyes. "I have some pain potions and bruise salve in my trunk." Tess nodded and ran up the stairs, her eyes briefly flashing to the girl in his arms. He only had to glance at the third year Gryffindors on the couch to get them to move. He carefully set her down.

The girl started muttering something, stormy blue eyes half-open. "Not his fault..." she croaked. "Made him angry..."

Hermione, who had just been studying at one of the table, almost went to get Professor McGonagall right then and there, but stopped at seeing the dangerous glint in Harry's eye.

He smirked to himself before turning to the whimpering girl. "Shh..." he comforted in voice softer than any thought possible for him. "I'm going to patch you up, Shadow, and everything's going to be okay. We'll discuss your friend's punishment later." Tess showed back up with the potion and the salve, and Harry nodded at her gratefully. He turned to the girl. "You need to take this potion. It will help the pain." She nodded reluctantly, and he brought the vial to her lips, tilting it upwards slowly.

She swallowed, and the effect was almost instantaneous. The girl sat up slowly, wincing at the painful bruises on her ribs. Harry immediately went to work with the salve, applying it to the bruises meticulously, as if he had experience doing it. All of his friend knew he did.

"Shadow" looked around and whistled. "Nice digs, Potter," she teased weakly, a ghost of a smile on her face.

Harry, who was applying the salve to her collarbone, smirked. "Well, it's no tent, but..."

"Shadow" rolled her eyes. "You and that goddamn tent. What's so great about a tent anyway?"

Harry shrugged, but it seemed like a guarded shrug to those observing. "Nothing really. I guess being able to stretch out your arms in your sleep will always seem like a luxury to a boy who grew up in a cupboard."

There was a shocked silence, and even Harry's closest friends didn't know what to say. Tess had never heard Harry talk about his childhood so candidly before. As far as Bea and Harry were considered, their lives hadn't started until they were six and living with the Street Rats. Rarely, she'd hear things like "Number 4 Privet Drive" or "uncle" or "Emily", but no pieces had ever fit. Harry didn't like to talk about it, and she never asked. "Shadow" remained quiet. Harry seemed oblivious to the silence, only interested applying the salve. Soon, most of the Gryffindors started heading to bed. Only Harry, Delia, Tess, and Sean stayed down, the later three interested in the mystery girl and Harry needing to heal her. Tess knew Harry had other friends, but it never occurred to her he loved other people this much, enough to save them from abusive boyfriends. Maybe she'd learn something knew about Harry...

***Hey! Sorry this is kind of a crappy ending. The chapter would be too long, and I desperately wanted to give you guys something tonight. I'll try to have the next part of this encounter for you soon!**


	15. The Past of the Picture

**Hey! Muse has returned! Hurrah! I know I left you guys hanging on a cliffhanger, so I'm going to try to wrap up this plotline. You'll learn more about Harry's past and how he knows Shadow. Hope you enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! I am neither blonde nor British. **

The next morning at breakfast, the Gryffindors were joined by Harry's mysterious friend. Harry and the Headmaster stared at each other for a moment before Dumbledore turned away, leaving Harry smirking. "Shadow" rolled her eyes. Tess took a good look at the younger girl. She was very pretty with smoky brown hair and wide moss-green eyes. The bruises were mostly gone, but she could make out the faint outline of one on the girl's jaw.

"Shadow" seemed to realize there were eyes on her. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last night," the girl apologized. "I'm Adrianna Callen."

"Tess McKinnon," she introduced herself. The girl brushed her curls back nervously. "So how long have you known Harry?"

Adrianna shrugged. "As long as I can remember. My brother found him and Bea in London and brought them to our place when I was four. He was the one who took care of me. Our parents died in an accident, and he didn't want to go live with our uncle because he hated magic and didn't like girls either. I was only a baby then."

"You were probably the clingiest little kid I have ever met," Harry stated with a smirk. "But you were the youngest one of us, and so everyone loved you. You adored Bea the most though. Clung to her like you were her shadow."

Adrianna smiled, a real one that lit up her face. "I remember that. She used to watch me while Ralph and Matt took you boys to do whatever it is you did. Amelia and Pandora used to teach us how to sing and dance." Even though she had been a young child then, Adrianna had never forgotten their safe haven under the bridge. No matter what the weather had been like, it had always felt warm. There were tents scattered around the area in different colors and fabrics. A park nearby guaranteed people to watch the girls' performances and trees for the boys to climb. Protective spells around the tents shielded them from unsavory eyes, but the secret was guarded tightly.

The Harry in her memories was different. He was all crooked smiles and stories written on whatever paper he could scrape up and the smell of bark hanging on his clothes. She still caught hints of the boy she had idolized as a little girl, but it got harder as the war progressed. That Harry had no place in a war. In a way, it was almost a good thing Bea wasn't alive because it would break her heart to see Harry like that. While Harry had always had a quiet darkness about him, Bea was all smiles and curly blonde hair and laughter. There was something innately soothing about the curly blonde, something that made Adrianna cling to her like a "shadow".

She pulled herself out of her memories to find Harry staring at her, his startling emerald eyes taking in everything. "Your brother was a good guy, Shadow," he said quietly. "I looked up to him." There were the sounds of a couple people choking on their food or juice. It was hard to image Harry Potter, the tough hardened Boy-Who-Lived, looking up to everyone. Adrianna only nodded, her memories of her brother far and few in between.

Harry sighed. Adrianna had only been four when their world had burned to the ground. She didn't remember much about Matt, which was a shame because he had been a great guy and a good leader. He had been the one to discover him and Bea, to bring them to the little sanctuary under the bridge. Remembering what Markus gave him, he reached into his pocket. He took out the photo out and smoothed the edges, sliding it over to Adrianna.

She picked up and looked carefully. It was a picture of them right in front of the bridge. She traced the faces with her fingers. Slowly, she found her brother's face, smiling almost defiantly as he had an arm wrapped around Amelia's waist. Both of them had died defending their home. Matt fought off the Aurors while Amelia helped them escape. Next to her were Ralph and Pandora. They were still alive and together, but each scared in their own ways. Pandora had suffered horrible burns to her face, and while they hadn't killed her, they did permanently scar the skin on her face. Ralph, on the other hand, had lost half of his pinky. Old Mam was standing next a man who was unfamiliar to her, but they were holding hands. A girl with a remarkable likeness to Markus was in front of them, a smile from ear to ear. Two guys whom she assumed were brothers stood on other side of her, both making a funny face.

The next row, however, really caught her attention. Four children stood, arms slung around each other's shoulders. Harry was on the very far left, his smile contagious. Adrianna shot a look at Harry, who was still watching her. Some things were the same: messy black hairs and alluring green eyes. But this Harry's smile wasn't guarded, had no plans or ulterior motives. It was younger, more innocent. Next to him was Bea, who was exactly as she remembered, warm and bright. Next to her was Isa, who was smiling in a way Adrianna had never seen her before. Isa's smiles now were half-smiles, smiled designed to intrigue and lure men in. This girl, however, smiled a genuine smile. Next to her was a boy who Adrianna couldn't remember but who she knew was responsible for Isa's smile. Finishing off the row was Markus, who was smiling as if he had just caused trouble.

Finally, sitting on the grass, were two little girl. One Adrianna could pick at as herself. Her hair was braided, and she remembered Bea's gentle hands as she did so. The other little girl caused a bang to go through her heart. Glinda had been her only friend, her best friend, until that day their home burned down. She had asked for Glinda over and over after that day, not understanding where she had gone. It was Harry who had explained to her that Glinda was in heaven with her sister.

"Where did you get this picture?" she asked softly.

"Markus gave it to me when I saw him in Diagon Alley. He said he wanted me to have it, but I also think that it's dangerous for him to have something that can like him to me right now." He paused. "It's probably the last picture left. The fire burned everything."

Harry leaned in closer, looking at the picture. He started to name everyone, filling in the blanks of Adrianna's memory. "We called Matt the General because he was basically our leader. In another life, he could've been an Auror. Knew how to fight. Made sure we knew how. Amelia was pretty tough too, but she preferred healing to hurting. She would coddle us after every bump and bruise, especially you and Glin. It drove Matt crazy, but he never fought her on it. You had to be crazy to fight Amelia when she made up her mind. We called her Mother Bear or just Bear."

"Why?" Tess asked curiously, her eyes sliding down to the photo. By now, she, Delia, and Sean were all listening carefully to Harry's narrative. After all, he never offered up this much information about the past at once, and he didn't even seem to mind them listening. The other Gryffindors probably couldn't hear them considering they were sitting at that far end of the table.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Ever seen a mother bear when her cubs are threatened? She'll maul you to pieces. Of course, I would've rather taken on a bear than made Amelia mad. Of course, Matt did all the time. They were a good match." His finger stopped at Ralph. "Ah, our Chief. Ralph was always good at strategizing. Matt and he were friends for that reason. Your brother never put much faith in a plan. Ralph would've probably stopped breathing if his plan told him to. Of course, ironies of all ironies, he falls in love with the girl who literally has chaos stamped on her forehead. We called Pandora Trouble because that's what followed her wherever she went." His finger started moving again, stopping at Old Mam. "Never understood why the old folks stuck with us, but we loved them anyway. Matt was the oldest, only 18, so it was nice to have someone like a grandparent. Old Mam could make anything taste good. Even the one time we caught rats, she managed to make it taste like a five-star meal. Paps was an inventor. He could make something out of nothing. He was obsessed with Muggle stuff. He loved taking apart, seeing how it worked."

The next row had Harry grinning widely. "The twins, Tim and Tony, were major pranksters. One time, they glued me to my tree." Seeing the incredulous looks he was receiving, he added, "Well, at least my pants. I went to jump down from the branch, and the back half of my pants ripped off. I was so mad. I almost put fire ants in their pillows, but Bea talked me out of it. I just filled their underwear with sand instead. Grace managed to fix my pants. She could fix the biggest holes in anything. If the world could've been fixed with a needle and thread, I would've picked her to do it."

The last row, however, had Harry very quiet. He lingered in the younger image of himself, his eyebrows furrowed together as if thinking of something complicated. He didn't speak until minutes had passed. "Before they decided to call me Scamp, they wanted to call me Tree Boy. I probably spent at least ten hours a day hanging out in a tree."

Delia, who hadn't spoken much since Adrianna arrived the previous night, gave Hairy a searching look. "Why?"

She wasn't expecting a real answer from Harry, simply one of his half-shrugs or non-specific grunts, so she was surprised when he started to take. "When I was in school, my teacher told us that climbing to the top of the tree was the fastest way for us to get as close to heaven as possible. I thought, if I claimed high enough, my parents would come down and close the gap." He stopped. "Of course, they never did, and I stopped expecting them to, but by then I liked it up there."

Tess smiled. That sounded like the Harry she remembered, and she was starting to think that the Street Rats and her were more similar than she'd expected. They remembered people that they lost too soon and watched as people they loved turned into ghosts of the ones that were once there.

"How did you meet Bea?" Adrianna asked, genuinely curious. She had never heard one of Harry's childhood stories where Bea wasn't present.

Harry smiled. "The bus stop."

_*flashback*_

_ Harry sat on the small bench, staring at his very dirty and scuffed up sneakers. In stark contrast, Dudley's new sneakers practically sparkled as he stood with some of his friends a few feet away, no doubt planning how to steal some kid's lunch money. He only hoped Dudley and his gang didn't try to chase after him today. _

_ "Hi!" Harry turned to see a small blonde girl giving him a wide-tooth smile. "Can I sit with you?" He only shrugged, which the girl took as a yes. "Thank you! My family just moved here, and I don't know anyone. I have an older sister, Emily, but my mom had to take her to the dentist this morning. Do you have any siblings?"_

_ Harry was impressed at the pure speed the girl used to fire off her questions. He shook his head no._

_ "So what..." Bea didn't get to finish her question. Dudley and his friends spotted someone talking to Harry and felt it their duty to inform that person of how the rules worked._

_ "You don't want to talk him," Dudley advised smugly. "He's a freak."_

_ The little girl's eyebrow furrowed. "Says who?"_

_ "Everyone," Dudley said. "His own parents even got themselves killed in a car accident so they wouldn't have to deal with him."_

_ The girl gasped. "That's mean! You're not a very nice person." Dudley turned red and dragged his friends away. "Like I would ever listen to a beached whale like him," she muttered. _

_ Harry, somewhat startled by this girl, laughed, causing the girl to smile. "Why does he hate you so much?"_

_ "He's my cousin," Harry mumbled. The girl winced in sympathy. "Still, the whale is nothing compared to the elephant."_

_ "Your uncle?" the girl laughed._

_ "Accompanied by my aunt, the horse." Both the kids exploded into giggles, causing Dudley to turn around and glare at them. Neither noticed._

_ "I like you," the girl said. "We should be friends. Or best friends."_

_ "Best friends?" Harry repeated. "I've never had a best friend before." Actually, he'd never had a friend before, but she didn't need to know that._

_ "Neither have I," the girl said. "But my sister has, and she said they're nice. But first I need to know your name."_

_ "I'm Harry," he said. "Harry Potter."_

_ "Beatrice Dupont, but you can call me Bea. I hate my name."_

_ The bus finally pulled up. Bea grabbed Harry's hand, much to his surprise, and started running towards the bus. "Come on, Harry! I wanted to sit in the back."_

_ Harry just laughed and followed his new best friend onto the bus._

Tess smiled. "That sounds like something Bea would do. What happened to her sister?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know. For all I know, she's stilling living at Privet Drive."

"Harry?" Adrianna asked gently. "What was her nickname?"

Harry's tone was very soft when he replied, "Sunshine." He turned to his long-forgotten breakfast, signaling the end of this particular conversation. His friends followed suit, all their heads spinning with new information. To even his closest friends, Harry Potter was a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.


	16. Truth and Lies

**Hey! What's up? New update! Hoorah! So now you're going to meet Isa and get a little more insight on Harry and the war. I have a general direction of where this story is going, but I'm open to suggestions. Please review! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. If any of you are in Bible class (like me), here's an interesting parallel for you. Rowling = God. Harry Potter = Jesus. Voldemort = The devil. Dumbledore's Army/Order of Phoenix = 12 Apostles. Mind-blowing, right?**

As they finished breakfast, Harry looked around. Isa had agreed to come pick Adrianna up and take her to Old Mam's so that whatever asshole had done a number on her face wouldn't be able to find her. Harry planned to find the twerp and do a little rearrangement of his face. Matt had lived by a couple of rules, but the most important one of all was this: Protect your family. It was the golden rule of them all, the one that Matt took special care to teach to Harry and Markus. Everyone followed it. The Street Rats never had much, before or after the fire, but they did what they could for each other. It was a rule that was taken more seriously by the boys, who had been taught how to fight to defend themselves and their family. Still, to this day, it was a rule firmly embedded into the now bitter teenagers.

"Wow," Dean Thomas stated, practically foaming at the mouth. Harry turned around and smirked. Isa was standing in front of the Gryffindor table, her mere presence causing boys to droll. Harry could tell that she had been out the night before and hadn't gone home. Her clothes were wrinkled, probably from being in a heap on some guy's floor. Her make-up was a little smudged, but she still looked good enough to attract every male in the room. Everything about Isa nowadays was designed to entice men. She lured them into buying her drinks, into taking her home to their beds. Some would say she was a slut, but Harry would probably knock their teeth out. He knew it was infinitely more complicated than that.

Isa smiled her little half-smile at him. "Hey Harry," she said. "Enjoying prison?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "As much as I would having a splinter in my eye." He looked her up and down, taking notice of the barely there tank top and mink skirt. "Business or pleasure last night?"

Isa smirked sultry. "Oh Harry, you know I love both. Last night, however, was distinctly pleasure."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And how is good ole Jack these days? He still have those rings in his face?"

Isa was speechless. The students, even the Slytherins, were watching the interaction. It was like a tennis match shooting back and forth. "How did you..."

Harry smirked. "The giant hickey on your neck for starters. Jack practically has fangs. Has he ever tried to suck your blood?"

Isa scowled. "Fuck you, Harry."

"Fuck you?" he repeated. "No thanks. God knows what I'd catch."

"Trust me, it's nothing worse than anything you caught from your last girlfriend."

There was no missing the scowl on Delia's face. Harry frowned. "Who you talkin' about?"

"Annie Falter."

"I never dated Annie Falter."

"That's not what she said."

"I fucked her. Once. I'll never do it again."

"Learned your lesson?"

Harry shuddered. "Yep," he agreed. "I did give her Markus's number though."

Isa laughed. "Good. Maybe Markus will actually give it up. Annie isn't picky."

Harry gave her a searching look. "And you are?"

Isa shrugged. "I like to be on top."

"Stop!" Adrianna shouted playfully. "I'm being scared for life."

"You'll live," Harry said dryly.

"Aren't you two supposed to be good influences?" she asked.

Harry and Isa looked at one another, smiling conspiratorially. Adrianna groaned. She knew those smiles. It would've been better to be quiet.

"You might have a point there, young Shadow," Harry pondered. "Let's see... Good advice... Don't drink. Don't do drugs."

"Don't have sex with someone in a moving vehicle," Isa contributed. "Or ever," she added after seeing Harry's withering glare.

"Always have a knife or pepper spray on you."

"Don't hesitate to kick a guy in the balls if he makes a move you don't like."

"Or any move at all."

"Never hesitate to call Harry if a boyfriend beats you up. Of course, don't be surprised when he calls you up at three in the morning asking you to come bail him out of jail."

"It was just once..."

"Once was enough. You're lucky Markus and I had enough to bail you out." Isa's smile, which had grown as she and Harry bantered back and forth, shrunk. "How is he?"

Harry shook his head, the air suddenly more somber. He understood why Markus was doing what he was doing, but that didn't mean he liked it. Voldemort wasn't famous for letting his people go, branded or not. Whether or not Markus got his revenge, things weren't going to turn out well for him.

Isa frowned as Adrianna looked down at her hands, trying to avoid getting involved in what would be a fruitless discussion. Harry was all for the war. He gathered information, recruited people, and made plans. He wanted justice, people locked away in cells and a finger pointed at someone. It was this drive that lead him to bear so much weight on his shoulders it was a surprise he could walk. It was evident to everyone that loved him that it was going to collapse on him. Isa, on the other hand, couldn't give a damn about a war that didn't directly involve her. She stayed in her little corner of the world and tried to convince Harry to do the same. In fact, the last time they'd all been gathered together, Harry and Isa had gotten into a huge argument.

_*flashback*_

_Adrianna breathed in the heavenly scent of Old Mam's cooking. It was always a treat when her family gathered together, but it was even better when the food they were eating wasn't taken. She looked around. Pandora was chatting happily with Old Mam, Ralph sitting next to her. He was simply content to enjoy the homemade biscuits that were put out before dinner. Markus was entertaining the trouble twins, Scarlett and Marigold, nicknamed Lettie and Mari but more affectionately known as the little tornados. The nine year old twins, though not identical, shared the same mischavious personality. An friend of Old Mam's had died, leaving her already orphaned granddaughters without a home. That had been three years ago, and now they fit into the family perfectly. _

_Sitting next to them watching in fascination was six-year old Ariella, nicknamed the Princess by Harry. The little girl had come into the family only a year ago, and the circumstances that led her to them was enough to break anyone's heart. Her father, a penniless drunk, had beat her daily and then pimped her out to his friends for money to go waste on Firewhiskey. Harry found her being raped on a delivery. He had punched the guy's lights out and taken the little girl away. The only word the then five year old had spoken since her arrival was her name. Ariella had immediately captured everyone's hearts, and they all did what they could to make her more comfortable in her new home. Ariella's favorite person, however, was Harry. He was the only one who could coax a smile or even the occasionally laugh out of the somber little girl. _

_Adrianna, snapped out of her musings, looked around for Harry. He wasn't there. Isa was missing as well. She stepped out of the kitchen, heading towards the backyard that was Harry's favorite spot. She stopped when she heard voices yelling._

_ "You are a fucking idiot, Harry!" Isa shouted, tears starting form in her eyes. "You do know this war will kill you, right?"_

_ Harry's voice was cold. "I know what I'm doing, Isa."_

_ "No!" Isa screamed. "No, you don't. All you can think about is Bellatrix and her fucker of a husband writhing in pain at your wand!"_

_ "They deserve it!" Harry screamed back, his face getting red. "They deserve to suffer just as much as I am. You can't hurt my family and get away with it."_

_ "And what about the family you have that's still alive? Don't you want to protect them?"_

_ Harry got up into Isa's face, his eyes cold hard emeralds. "What do you think I'm doing? Do you think I like this war? I don't. It fucking sucks, in fact, but I'd rather fight it than have Lettie or Mari or Ariella have to." Unspoken words of 'Because I have nothing left to lose' hung in the air, drowning Isa and Harry with their weight._

_ Isa's eyes softened. "I don't want to lose anyone else," she whispered. _

_ Harry sighed. "I don't plan on dying," he said. There was a pause as Harry turned away and headed to the door. Adrianna slid out of view. He was just turning the knob when Isa spoke again._

_ "And what happens when it's all over, Harry? What's going to be left?" Of you, she thought. Of Markus, she thought. Of me. _

_ Harry didn't turn around. "I don't know."_

Isa didn't know what to say. She was worried about Harry and Markus. She was afraid of losing the rest of the family. She wished they could all stay out of this war. But they couldn't, and Harry wouldn't anyway. So, instead of saying anything to Harry, she turned to Adrianna. "Come on," she said. "Old Mam's waiting for you."

Adrianna nodded and grabbed her back. Isa turned to look at Harry. "See you at Christmas?"

Harry nodded, his body completely rigid. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering if Markus would even still be alive for Christmas. He was wondering how many Christmases he had left. She felt like she had to say something, anything, right then.

"Don't worry about Markus," she added. "People get what they deserve in the end." Isa didn't look at Harry as she said this, and he couldn't not look at her because they both knew it was possibly the biggest lie either of them had ever told. And it was under the disguise of this lie that Adrianna and Isa left.


	17. Watch Out, Pissed-Off-Potter

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! Always appreciated. So now I'm going to address an issue that has been brought in your reviews: Tess. Yes, I know a lot of you hate her, and I guess I can see why, but I don't. I see her in the way you look at a girl who has a friend who's destroying himself and doesn't know what to do. She tries to get adults involved because she's just a teenager. Yes, Tess gives away a lot about Harry too easily, but she does it with good intentions. She isn't feeding the information to Death Eaters. She's giving it to people who can help Harry, like Dumbledore, or who will care, like Sirius. That being said, this chapter will focus on the backlash of Tess giving away Harry's secret. Yes, Harry will probably yell at Tess, but promise me you won't enjoy it too much. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't live in the most boring state in the U.S.**

October came and went, Halloween passing around with little to no fuss. Harry's mood worsened, but all of his friends expected it to, and he didn't get into any more fights so nothing was said. Tess and Delia held their breaths, hoping that nothing bad would happen. And, as November went on, nothing did. Harry went to class, ate meals, and laughed when he was supposed to, but there something missing, a kind of awareness that only exists when you care. Harry wasn't all there. Sometimes he'd get this restless look, like he wanted to hop on his Harley and never look back, but he never did. It was worrying, not to be able to know what Harry was going to do.

Harry's mood brightened when Remus and Sirius came to visit one Hogsmeade weekend mid-November. Though he would never admit, being the hardened cynic he was, Harry had grown fond of the two older men. He had never really met anyone who had known his parents before except for Fiona and Phin, and that had been different. These men had been his dad's best friends, knew the stupid little details about his parents that Fiona hadn't. Harry had always tried to find out all he could about them. He never could figure out why he tried so hard to.

The three of them sat in the Hog's Head, drinking butterbeer and firewhiskey respectively. Remus had wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks, but Harry vetoed it, claiming that he wanted a break from people staring at him like an animal at the zoo. Sirius, familiar with the sentiment after his release from Azakban, agreed. Sirius was telling the story of some great prank they pulled on McGonogall, Harry listening with interest.

Remus, on the other hand, was simply watching Harry, thinking. Sirius was reluctant to bring it up, but they needed to talk to Harry about the Dursleys. They knew a little about Harry's childhood from his friend Tess's memories, but they didn't know anything before he was eight years old. Harry wasn't very forthcoming with that kind of information, and the people that had it were either dead or not likely to tell them.

Sirius finished up his story, and there was an awkward silence. Remus decided this was the perfect opportunity to speak up. "Harry," he said. "What did the Dursleys do to you?" Harry narrowed his eyes, and it was clear Remus was entering a danger zone. "We know they weren't kind to you, but..."

Harry laughed, a hard and bitter sound that made his honorary uncles cringe. "I guess you could say that." In a monotone tone, he listed all the things he could remember that the Dursleys did to him. "Broke my arm, locked me in a cupboard for days on end, starved me, called me a freak, stuck my hand on the stove..."

Both men were horrified, if not with the extensive list than with Harry's unfeeling recitation of it. Harry either didn't notice their reaction or just didn't care because he didn't say anything to comfort them.

Sirius asked the stupidest question he could possibly could. "What about the girl?"

Harry stared at Sirius. "What girl?" he asked suspiciously.

"The one in the memory," Remus said quietly.

Harry's eyes darkened. "What memory?"

"The one Tess showed us," Remus said. He had not finished saying the word showed before Harry was storming out of the Hog's Head.

Harry was fuming as he left Hogsmeade and headed back to the castle. What right did Tess have to show them memories? What right did she have to tell them about Bea? Logically, Harry knew she was doing this to help him. Tess wasn't the backstabbing type, never had been, but this was hard to remember when steam was coming out of his ears. It was more of the questions that had pissed Harry off. The Dursleys hadn't treated him nicely? That was an understatement if there ever was one. They had tortured him, plain and simple. They had been trying to kill him, or at least that's what Bea had thought.

_*flashback*_

_ Harry was clutching his burnt hand lightly, waiting for Bea behind their tree. It had not been a good day. Bea had not been able to come earlier today; her parents had been invited to an important party and brought both their daughters to show off. Bea had left him a book behind, however, and Harry delved into it. He was half-way through it when he heard a car pulling in a driveway. He looked up only to see it was his uncle. Harry ran like a bat out of hell to the backdoor of the kitchen. He turned on the stove and put a pan on the stove, grabbing the ingredients out of the refrigerator. This was not enough to please his uncle. Angry that his lunch was not ready, he grabbed Harry's hand and pressed it onto the now hot stove. Harry screamed, prompting Vernon to kick him to the floor and then take him by the back of his shirt and throw him in the cupboard. Once his relatives had gone to sleep, Harry had picked the lock on the cupboard and headed out to the tree._

_ "Harry?" He turned around to see Bea, looking at him worriedly. Noticing him clutching his hand, she asked, "What did the walrus do now?" Harry showed her his hand, and she gasped. The skin was red and burnt. She touched it gently, not wanting to hurt him. Surprisingly, the burned look started to fade as she touched it, only looking very red. _

_ Once Bea had wrapped Harry's hand, the two leaned up against their tree, looking up at the sky. "Harry," she said. "You know he's trying to kill you, right?"_

_ Harry's voice was quiet as he answered. "Yeah, I know."_

_ "I don't want you to die," Bea whispered, her eyes filled with worry._

_ He smiled. "I'm not going to die," he promised. "I'll be gone before Uncle Vernon can kill me."_

_ "Where will you go?"_

_ Harry shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe London. I've been stealing part of Dudley's pocket change."_

_ Bea smiled. "Take me with you?"_

_ Harry nodded, not taking his eyes of the skies. Like he would go anywhere without Bea anyway..._

Harry had managed to get into the castle and the Gryffindor common room without realizing it. Tess and Delia were sitting on the couch, a magazine between them. Daisy was sitting on the floor, playing with a tiny tea set McGonagall had given her. Sean had gone out with some of the guys to the Three Broomsticks. Harry had seen a glimpse of him in his furious march back to the castle. He was sure Sean had called something out to him, but he hadn't been listening in his rage-induced state.

"Hey," Delia said brightly when she saw that Harry had entered the room. Her greeting faded when she saw the look of absolute fury on his face. She hadn't seen that look since Sean had been thrown into Azakban.

Harry stared at Tess until she looked up. She raised an eyebrow at him, not intimidated by the look. "What's up?" she asked.

"I just want to know something," he said coolly. "Are my secrets up for sale, or is it a free sample sort of thing? Do you have a waiting list of people wanting dirt on the great Boy-Who-Lived."

Tess looked like she had been slapped. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "The memories," he stated. Tess's eyes widened.

"I was just trying to..." she started to explain. Harry cut her off.

"I don't care what you were trying to do!" he shouted. "You had no right!"

"No right?" Tess repeated. "They were my memories!"

Harry's voice was quiet but steely as he answered, "But they don't belong to you."

Tess didn't understand what Harry was trying to say in the moment. Her response was, "Go to hell."

Harry smiled sardonically. "Gladly," he said. "I just have to get my keys." Quickly summoning his keys, he left the common room.

It wasn't until Harry had been gone at least an hour before Tess truly understood what Harry was getting at. He hadn't been so mad about the people viewing the memory or the fact that she had did it. It was the content of one of the memories he opposed to. Tess knew he had just come from a meeting with Sirius and Remus. She grabbed her coat. Delia looked at her. "I'm going to find Sirius and Remus," she explained. Something one of them had said set Harry off, and she was going to find out what.


	18. Butterbeer and Clam Chowder

**Hey! Celebrate! Here's an update! Hooray! Yes, I know, that's a lot of rhyming, but it's late and I'm tired and I had to rework this chapter from what I originally planned. So Harry's going somewhere to vent, and Tess needs to have a conversation with Sirius and Remus. Sound good? Not very action packed, but next chapter you're getting a Hogwarts Christmas dinner with the Order and Harry's people plus a tiny Voldemort scene. Please review! Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have to type on a laptop missing the G and H keys. Honestly, do you know how many words have G and H in them? A lot!**

Fortunately, it wasn't hard for Tess to track Sirius and Remus down. In fact, they were still sitting at the same table in Hog's Head Harry had left them at, still trying to puzzle out his reaction. It was a difficult task figuring out Harry James Potter. After eight years of friendship, Tess still felt like there were parts of Harry she hadn't seen. No one ever got a full picture from him, only whatever part he felt like giving.

Hands on her hips, she faced Remus and Sirius, a scowl on her face. To her surprise, it was Sirius who caved first. She would've thought he'd had more experience with angry women than Remus, but she later found it that Sirius had dodged every date he pissed off at Hogwarts and after, leaving it to Remus soothe their ire.

"We told Harry you showed us memories!" Sirius shouted.

Remus glared at Sirius. "Padfoot!"

"What?" Sirius said. "You know angry women frighten me." He shivered.

Tess raised an eyebrow. "What else did you say to him?" she asked.

"We asked him about how the Dursleys treated him," Remus explained. "He gave us a pretty detailed list of every way they abused him. We also asked him about that girl from the memories..." He trailed off, unable to remember her name.

"Bea," Tess whispered, a ghost of a smile on her face. She looked at the two obviously curious men. "Probably not the smartest thing you could've asked."  
>"We noticed," Sirius joked dryly. "But why?"<p>

Tess sighed. "Look, Harry likes to keep his life divided up into sections: everything before he was six, the Street Rats, living with Fiona and Phin, and then everything after that. None of those parts are allowed to mix. You probably learned more about how the Dursleys treated him today than I've ever heard him talk about. At Fiona and Phin's, I never heard Harry talk about the Street Rats. I only heard Bea and Harry were visiting them unless Fiona mentioned it. After... the attack, he never said Bea's name, and he didn't like it when I did." She paused. "Harry doesn't like to talk about the past."

"But he should talk about," Remus insisted. "Bottling everything up isn't good for him."

Tess shrugged. "He says that talking about the past doesn't change it. And he never mentions this, but it hurts. I know it hurts for me, and I'm sure it hurts for him."

There was a moment of silence, Sirius and Remus seemingly absorbing everything she had said. Finally Sirius spoke up. "Can you tell us about Bea?" he asked. Seeing the brunette's questioning look, he stated, "I want to know about this girl that was so important to my godson."

Tess smiled. "Bea was..." She thought about her old friend for a moment. "She was bright, like sunshine. No matter what, she could make you smile. She could talk a mile a minute, which I always found funny because Harry's fluent in monosyllables. Then again, I always thought they could read each other's minds. Bea always knew what was going on in his head. She could talk him into anything. She could've talked anybody into anything." Tess wiped away a tear she didn't even realize had fallen. "She was a great friend. We were like sisters, but she was Harry's other half."

"Lightness to darkness, huh?" Sirius teased.

Tess laughed. "Something like that." Her face turned more serious. "A part of him died with her."

Remus looked at her with kind eyes. "Why do you say that?"

Tess fiddled with the zipper of her coat. "Because when we came back after the attack, Phin had to hold Harry back from running off and trying to find Bellatrix. He was screaming, howling, crying. It was like something inside him broke." She looked at them, her eyes haunted with the memory of that sight. She would never forget seeing Harry like that. She would never forget his cries, begging for it to be him, swearing vengeance. Sometimes, in her nightmares, those cries rang in her ears.

Deciding they had reopened enough painful memories of Tess's, Remus ordered another round of firewhiskeys for him and Sirius and a Butterbeer for the lady as well as three orders of fish and chips seeing as it was around lunchtime. It was a well-kept secret that Aberforth did the best fish and chips in Scotland. It didn't take long for their food to be brought out. Amusing anecdotes of Remus and Sirius's school days were thrown around, some of them the same told to Harry earlier.

As they finished up their meal, Tess looked at the two remaining Marauders. It was clear they loved Harry, for better or worse, but there were a lot of people that loved him (even if the idiot didn't realize it). Still, something was endearing about them, and so she issued them a warning. "Don't ask Harry about the past again," she advised. "It won't get you any closer to him. Just focus on the present."

The two men agreed, not because they liked it but because Tess was right and they really didn't want to face her angry at them again. Angry women were scary. It was the reason both of them were still single.

* * *

><p>Old Mam stirred the pot of clam chowder on the stove, humming a soft old tune as she did. She looked over her shoulder to see the twins still playing cards in almost complete silence, a miraculous feet for them, since Ariella was napping on the recliner next to them. Despite all of her efforts, the little girl still wasn't sleeping peacefully through the nights, and so little naps throughout the day were important. Ralph was tinkering with something in the bathroom, probably the pipes again. They kept leaking. Pandora and Isa had gone out for a girl's day, promising to be home for dinner. Though at one point after their spot was discovered they had lived separately, most of the "Street Rats" as Harry and Isa had ridiculously named the group as children now lived in her tiny house.<p>

The house had been acquired after she had gone to Gringotts for the first time in thirty years to discover that her husband's older brother had died and left them a comfortable sum of money and a small house. Old Mam didn't care much about the money. Her family got by, everyone contributing. Ralph did a lot of repair work, Pandora babysat for local families, Isa waitressed, and Harry... Well, she didn't ask what jobs he worked, and he didn't tell.

Still, the house had been a big deal. It became a base for her children, a place to return when they went separate ways. It was three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a very spacious backyard. The twins, Adrianna, and Isa shared a room, Isa moving in two years ago at Harry's request after a boyfriend got violent. Pandora and Ralph shared a room. Ariella slept in her room so she could keep an eye on her at night. Harry, on the rare occasion he stayed, pitched his tent in the backyard. Ariella usually joined him, sleeping peacefully through the night in his presence. Markus had not been home in a very long time, but he preferred the pull-out in the living room.

There was a knock on the front door, startling the old woman. Her children usually Flooed in and out. The front door was used rarely and usually only by one particular person. She went and opened the door, not at all surprised by who she found. Harry looked distinctly frazzled. There were bags under his eyes, and she noted with displeasure that it was mid-November and yet all he was wearing was jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

Bubbling with questions, Old Mam only said, "Hello, dear. Come on in. I have a pot of clam chowder on the stove. Would you like a bowl?"

Harry smiled and stepped inside, happily accepting the offer. This was exactly why he had flown here from Hogwarts. Originally, he had gotten on his bike and just started going, not sure where he was going until he was halfway there. Old Mam's house was probably the closest to peaceful he could ever get.

He wasn't in the house two minutes before there were two weights on his legs. Harry looked down to see Lettie and Mari, one twin clinging to each leg. "Harry!" they squealed in unison.

Old Mam smiled at the antics of the girls but shushed their squeals, gesturing to a sleeping Ariella. "Now, why don't you two girls go wash up, I'll wake up Ariella, and then we can eat?"

Lettie looked up at Harry, a frown on her usually smiling face. "Promise you'll be here when we get back?"

"Promise," Harry said with a smile.

"Pinkie swear?" Mari asked, holding out a pinkie. Lettie mimicked her sister.

Harry laughed, taking both his pinkies and hooking one into the pinkie of each girl. "Pinkie swear!" That was all it took to get the twins to detach from his legs and scurry off to the bathroom. "I take it nothing's changed around here then," Harry commented.

Old Mam smiled as she ushered him into the kitchen, making him sit down and pulling out a bowl and spoon. "Those two will be the death of me, I swear," she said. "I'm half-convinced they were sent to me from Tim and Tony just to make sure I didn't lose my sense of humor."

Harry smiled faintly. "That sounds like something they would do." He looked down at the tablecloth. He knew questions were coming.

"Harry, what's on your mind?" Old Mam asked, taking a seat in the chair across from him. "I know you didn't fly that dangerous contraption all the way from Hogwarts just to have a bowl of my clam chowder."

Harry shrugged. "That sounds like a great reason to me." Getting a look from Old Mam, he sighed. "Okay, fine. I snapped at Tess today. I snapped at Tess and Sirius and Remus, and I've snapped at Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy and basically anyone who looks at me funny, which is very common at Hogwarts. I might as well be a bloody snapping turtle!"

Ignoring Harry's language, Old Mam set her hand on top of his. Harry didn't move his hand as he would've with any other adult. "And why are you lashing out at everyone?"

Harry exhaled. "Well, I hate Hogwarts. I feel like a caged animal. I don't trust Dumbledore, and I'm starting to feel like I can't trust my friends." He looked down, unwilling to meet her eyes. "And I miss Bea."

Old Mam's heart broke for her boy. She had never heard him say the words out loud before, but she knew it had been something weighing him down for a while. She and her husband had never had children of their own, but this rag-tag group of kids had become her children. Of all her children, she worried about Isa and Harry the most. Sometimes Markus was on that list as well, but he had common sense, limits that he wouldn't be willing to cross. Harry and Isa didn't. "It's okay to miss her."

Harry fiddled with the loose string on his t-shirt, not sure what to say. Old Mam waited until he was ready. "Being at Hogwarts was always her dream. She'd beg Fiona and Phin for stories about the castle. Being there without her just doesn't feel right."

Old Mam didn't try to offer any words of comfort or understanding. Her kids weren't the kind that liked unsolicited advice, and so she wouldn't offer any. Instead, she would give the only comfort she could. She got up, grabbed two bowls, and ladled a healthy amount into both bowls. Old Mam set one of those bowls in front of Harry and handed him a spoon. "Now let's get some meat on those bones," she exclaimed. "Honestly, don't they feed you at Hogwarts?'

Harry grinned as he began to devour the contents of the bowl, almost choking on the soup in laughter after Old Mam shouted, "Girls, hurry up! If I find out you put another dung bomb in the shower, I'll make a sugarless, flourless cake for your birthday." This was why he had driven here. No one tried to coddle him or condescend him. Advice was given only when asked for. Old Mam simply listened to him vent, no matter how irrational he sounded. Just being in this warm house was a soothing balm for his anger. Of course, Old Mam's cooking didn't hurt either.


	19. Hogwarts Holidays (And Maybe An Attack)

**Hey! Sorry it's been a while since I've updated this. School sucks. Enough said. Anyway, I'm trying to wrap up this story in about four, five chapters. I'm just getting tired of writing it, and I think it's time. I promise to try to wrap things up. If you have any specific request of characters or anything like that, let me know. Anyway, now it's Christmas, and Harry's old and new worlds collide, and a tiny peek at Lord Voldemort's plans. Stay tuned! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I lack all the major qualifications: blonde hair, being British, and having crazy genius talent.**

Harry's visit to Old Mam's mellowed him out a bit, much to the relief of Tess, who had been afraid of his reaction to her meddling. Looking back, she knew Harry had been right. She had been too quick to trust these new people in their lives, and she was coming to regret it. Now Dumbledore and the Order saw her as some kind of pump of information on Harry instead of a friend that genuinely wanted to help him. She was starting to think that this whole Hogwarts thing was a mistake. Sure, they got to see their old friends and make new ones, but it had not been beneficial to their part in the war at all like she thought it would be.

Though Harry did not hold a grudge against Tess, he did make it clear that the beautiful brunette had lost his trust. Hearing those words was a huge blow to Tess, but she knew it was deserved. He would trust her again in time, but for now they were just trying to get to a good place again. Delia and Sean did the best they could to help, serving as buffers between the feuding friends. Of course, Tess also thought the mood improving make-out sessions Delia would have with Harry before he talked to her helped.

Harry continued to get to know Sirius and Remus though he would not say he trusted them yet. Harry's list of trusted friends was small, and these days it seemed like it wasn't ironclad. He continued to religiously ignore the Headmaster. Still, things were fine at Hogwarts. He didn't get into too many fights, and whenever he felt like he'd really lose it he took his bike out for a ride.

Life went on. November ended, and December seemed to go back quickly, Christmas holidays seemingly sneaking up on the students. As he expected, Harry received a summons to Dumbledore's office the day before they were supposed to sign up if they were staying at school for the holidays.

Harry said the ridiculous password (no one in their right mind would guess Dumbledore's password was Swedish Fish) and entered the old goat's office. Dumbledore was sitting in his throne (excuse me, chair) at his desk, stroking his beard thoughtfully. He brightened up when he saw Harry standing in front of him.

"Ah, Harry, m'boy! Please, come sit down." Harry sat down, watching the Headmaster warily. Of course, he tried to look the man in the eyes to avoid having to look at his robes. Honestly, who told Dumbledore fuchsia robes with yellow trimming was a good idea? "I wanted to talk to you about your arrangements for the holidays."

"My arrangements, sir?" Harry asked casually, trying not to betray his hand. He knew this conversation was coming. Dumbledore expected to fight to go off on his own for the holidays, and usually he would, but Harry had something better in mind.

"Yes, m'boy. Now, I know you will probably want to go off on your own for the Christmas holiday, and I firmly believe in your ability to care for yourself, but I still worry about your safety. I think it would be best if you and your friends remained at school for the holidays. The Order will be here as well. Sirius and Remus will be glad to see you."

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you Dumbledore was his only thought. "I might be willing to stay at the castle," Dumbledore brightened, "but it's going to cost you."

The headmaster sighed. Gryffindor he may be, but the Slytherin in him shown through very brightly at times. "What is it you want, Harry?"

Harry smirked.

* * *

><p>The castle was quiet, most of the students gone home from the holidays. Besides Harry, Tess, Delia, and Sean, few students remained. The Weasleys had gone home, but they were coming back for Christmas dinner. Harry took the advantage of the empty common room to blast music from a tiny radio one of the house elves had found for him. He religiously avoided Christmas music, but the rock station was playing good stuff. They all sat in the common room in front of the fire. It was Christmas morning, and they were exchanging presents.<p>

Daisy was opening hers with childish delight. Sean had gotten her a stuffed owl since the little girl had asked why she couldn't have an owl like Hedwig. It actually looked remarkably like Hedwig to, pure white and life-size. Delia had scrimped and managed to buy her sister a beautiful little locket. Inside she placed a picture of the five of them together and one she had kept all these years of their parents. Tess had bought her knitting skills to good use and knit Daisy and everyone else warm sweaters. Harry, however, probably gave Daisy her favorite gift: a rare and beautifully bound edition of her favorite story, A Little Princess. The little girl didn't know much about books (yet), but she did know it was special.

While Daisy played with her owl and Tess and Sean played War with the pack of cards Harry had given him, Harry pulled Delia aside and handed her a package wrapped in newspaper. She rolled her eyes at Harry's typical avoidance of all things decorated Christmas and pulled out her own simply wrapped gift. They opened their gifts at the same time.

Delia gasped. She took the necklace gently out of the box. It was a beautiful light blue gemstone glittering off a pretty sliver chain. "Harry," she said breathlessly.

He smiled, looking up from the rare tome on Parseltongue she had found in a used bookstore. "It has protective charms woven around it," he explained. "No one can take it off but you."

Delia took a step towards Harry and kissed him fiercely. He pushed her against the wall, and they continued kissing until Sean shouted, "Potter, get a room!"

Harry unpinned Tess and she started to head back to her sister, but first she stopped and whispered in his ear, "Merry Christmas Harry." He didn't say anything, only watching as she rejoined her sister and their friends. The image warmed his heart, and he resolved to win this war only if he could keep his friends just like this, whole and intact. Merlin knows he wasn't.

* * *

><p>The day passed by fairly quickly, and soon it was time for dinner. Harry didn't want to admit it, but he was excited. To the shock of many, he showed up to the meal in a button down shirt and black jeans with blatant rips and tears it them. His eyes were glued to the door. The Weasley family arrived first, and Harry's eyes hurt slightly at the sight of all the red hair in the room. He was glad to see the Weasley twins again, though Mr. Weasley's questions did get annoying at times. The Order arrived next. Sirius and Remus gave Harry a joint gift of a beautifully bound photo album containing snapshots of his parents at school, their wedding day, and Harry as a baby. He had been speechless, only able to smile possibly the only genuine smile they'd ever seen from him.<p>

Harry's eyes, however, remained on the door until he seemed to hear something. The door flung upon, revealing two young girls in matching red dresses running. Their eyes scanned the room until they found their target. "Harry!" the two little girls shouted happily. They ran to him and clung to his legs, chattering a mile a minute. To the Order's surprise, he didn't mind. Instead, he laughed and asked the little girls if they'd pulled any good pranks lately, which lead to a long, energetically told story about some paint, a cat, and someone called Raf.

"Girls, what have I told you about just running off?" an older voice scolded, though her warning was tingling with warmth. An older woman, probably McGonagall's age, stepped into the Great Hall. She was looking at the little girls with exasperation but smiled kindly when she saw Harry. "Hello, dearie. Merry Christmas."

Harry smiled. "Merry Christmas," he said back.

The older woman eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure they feed you?"

Harry groaned while the little girls giggled. "Mams, leave the kid alone. It's not Scamp's fault he'll always be a scrawny git," another voice drawled.

Harry turned around and glared. The tall, slightly muscular sandy hair man with hazel eyes laughed.

"Ralph, be nice. It's Christmas after all," said the cropped-hair woman who entered next. It was hard not to look at her with the huge disfiguring burn on one side of her face. She smiled at Harry and then looked down at his legs. "Mari, Lettie, I know it's fun to annoy Harry, but could you let go for a little while so I can say hello?"

The little girls sighed but let go and ran over to the table where they sat down next to the Weasley twins. Despite gender and age differences, the two set of twins seemed to be hitting it off.

Harry sighed in relief as he hugged the woman. "Thank Merlin. I thought I was going to have to bribe them with a really good prank to get them to let go."

Old Mam gave him a disapproving look, remember the mess the last prank he'd given the little tornados had done to her kitchen, while the short-haired woman laughed and ruffled his hair, causing Harry to protest. "Hey, I actually combed that today!"

"Your comb must be broken," another voice taunted. The girl from the hall walked in with a small blonde girl on her hip and Adrianna following from behind.

Harry glared at her. "I can name something of yours that has been broken," he shot back. Isa opened her mouth to retort but doesn't, seeing Mam's behave-or-else look. Harry is similar quiet until he noticed the child on Isa's hip.

He smiles genuinely at the girl. "Hey Princess," he said quietly, almost too quiet for those at the table to hear. "Merry Christmas."

The solemn little girl beamed at him, and Harry mentally crowed victory. She reached at to him, and he gladly took her from Isa. He looked at his friend, but the question didn't even need to be asked. She hadn't seen Markus.

* * *

><p>The group mixed in with the Order and professors sitting at the table. Introductions were made. At the front of the table was Dumbledore followed by the Order members. Old Mam, Pandora, and Ralph sat there as well. Old Mam conducted a conversation with Mrs. Weasley about raising children and all the chaos it entailed. Ralph was debating various aspects of the war with Shackbolt and Moody. Pandora and Tonks became fast friends over Muggle music and clothes.<p>

Further down the table was Ron, Ginny, Tess, Sean, and both sets of twins. The Weasley twins were sharing their pranking secrets with the younger twins much to everyone's horror while Ron and Sean listened on in interest. Ginny and Tess were trading bits of Hogwarts gossip, mostly about who they thought would be together by Easter.

At the end of the table, Delia, Adrianna, and Isa sat on one side while Harry sat in by Ariella and Daisy. Daisy, delighted at meeting a girl her own age, had taken to Ariella instantly, and it warmed Harry's heart to see what good it did the little princess. Ariella had never been so opened before. The little girls chatted and giggled, Daisy doing most of the talking.

Dinner was a spectacular affair. There was laughing and talking and consuming of wonderful food. As conversation grew quieter, attention was drawn to Isa and Harry, who seemed to be debating just about everything under the sun very loudly.

"There's no way Jack Kerouac is better than Jane Austen! You are on crack!"

"Jane Austen was a stuck-up busy-body who wrote about her neighbors."

"Jack Kerouac did the same damn thing!"

"At least he was up front about it!"

That comment launched Isa into a totally different argument, and the table watched in fascination.

Dumbledore turned to Old Mam. "Are they always this…"

"Passionate?" Old Mam supplied. She smiled fondly, glancing over at the arguing teenagers. "Yes. Harry and Isa are very similar. It's the reason they fight so much." She studied Dumbledore carefully, not afraid to look into the great wizard's eyes.

"They are the most brilliant of my children, the most daring, but also the most broken. If you try to harm either of them, you will not live to regret it." For the first time in many years, Dumbledore was actually threatened by somebody. The glint in her eyes made him believe her.

The best part of dinner, however, was when Isa broke out her flask and, doing a quick glance to make sure Old Mam wasn't looking, poured some in her drink and tossed it to Harry, who did the same.

"Can I have some?" Adrianna asked eagerly.

"No!" Harry and Isa said simultaneously, causing the little girls to giggle. They glared at each other, which only caused further laughter.

When Adrianna was still pouting, Isa said, "Harry and I are the bad kids, Shadow. We're expected to do this."

"Well, you got one thing right at least." Heads whipped around fast to see a familiar figure standing by the door. Markus was standing hesitantly, almost like he didn't know if he was welcomed. "Mind if I join you?"

Isa rolled her eyes. "Come sit down you idiot." That was all it took. Markus sat down next to Harry, who offered a smirk-smile combo, and it was like he had never left. Christmas truly was a time of forgiveness, joy, and family. At least, for some people….

* * *

><p>"Wormtail!"<p>

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Your Dark Mark." There was a hiss of pain, and then a triumphant laugh. "Ah, excellent. My followers have been summoned."

"Summoned for what, my Lord?"

"It is time to plan, Wormtail. This will be the act that will change the tide of the war permanently."

"What act, my Lord?"

"Attacking Hogwarts. It is time to take that old coot and his precious Boy-Who-Lived down."


	20. Horcruxes and Preparing for Battle

**Hey! Been a while since I've updated. Sorry about that! I originally said I would be wrapping this up in four to five chapters, but I think it will be more three to four chapters including this one. So now spring has come, and with that Horcrux hunting. Harry Tess go off to destroy the few remaining, and the others wait for trouble to strike Hogwarts. What will happen? Stay tuned! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I've already cried about it.**

**Oh, and a review reply.**

**MaMc123: Sorry, no can do! It would make Harry happier, but it would screw with a lot of my plans. Don't worry though. He may see her again in so form…**

Winter passed by, and spring arrived. Moods started to approve amongst the students even with finals approaching. More time was spent outside by the lake, sunbathing and swimming. Harry and his friends, however, had another focus: Horcruxes. They had destroyed one years ago: Tom Riddle's diary. Allies at Gringotts confirmed that there was one in Bellatrix Lestrange's faults and were currently taking care of it. Dumbledore claimed to have Slytherin's ring and had sucked the curse out of it with extremely complicated magic he learned many years ago from his old friend and mentor, Nicholas Flamel. The best estimate indicated there were two left that needed to be destroyed before Voldemort could be defeated.

"Maybe it's that snake," Sean suggested one night during a brainstorming session. Everyone was half-asleep and running low on ideas, but Harry perked up.

"Nagini?" he asked. Sean nodded. "Well, it would make sense. That snake's never more than five feet from Voldemort."

"It'll be difficult to kill," Tess pointed out. "It would make more sense to destroy the other Horcrux first and then finish Nagini and him off when he attacks."

"But when will he attack?" Delia asked. "Everything's been too quiet. We've gotten no chatter from anyone, not even Theo."

"Voldemort's playing it close to the vest," Harry explained. "He's not risking anyone finding out and foiling the plan. It's obvious he'll attack Hogwarts, but without knowing when we're basically sitting ducks."

After much more debating and arguing and mind-blowing frustration, it was decided Harry and Tess would go track down the last Horcrux. There were very few clues to what it was except that they knew Voldemort had gone for items belonging to Hogwart's founders (excluding Gryffindor). It was Luna who gave them their biggest lead by suggesting it could be Ravenclaw's lost diadem and providing a book that had a sketch of what the diadem allegedly looked like. Harry and Tess set off to search museums and private jewelry collections while Delia and Sean promised to look at Hogwarts. Delia had begged to go with Harry, but he had refused, stating that Daisy was her responsibility and Horcruxes were his.

Dumbledore was not happy to find out Harry had left the school. An emergency Order meeting was called inside the castle, and the two remaining teenagers were read the Riot Act by the majority of the Order members. Only Remus and Sirius seemed to understand and emphasize with them.

"How could you let them go off gallivanting around the world?" Mrs. Weasley ranted. "What business do you children have tracking down Horcruxes anyway? This war is no place for you."

Delia laughed bitterly. "First off, we didn't let them do anything. Controlling Harry is about as successful as controlling a hurricane, and wherever he goes Tess will follow. Secondly, we may be young, but none of us our children. Tess and I have both seen our parents be murdered, Sean's been to Azakban, and Harry's had more shit go on in his life than most of the people in this room combined. This war was always going to include us."

Curiosity got the best of Sirius. He turned to Sean. "What were you in Azakban for?"

Sean, known for being easy-going and playful, darkened so fast some of the adults in the room shivered. "The Ministry needed someone to take the fall for a crime that one of their people committed. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"When were you released?" Tonks asked, hoping to restore some of her faith in the ever-failing Ministry.

Sean's grin was razor sharp. "I never was," he replied. "Harry broke me out."

"Harry broke you out?" Tonks repeated, unable to believe it. How did a teenage boy break someone out of Azakban?

Sean nodded. "Never figured out how he managed it, but I'll love him forever for it."

"You don't need to," Delia said. "Harry never leaves his friends behind. You know that."

Eventually, the interrogation/lecture ended, but not before Delia and Sean made a few requests. They wanted a team of Auror and Hitwizards protecting the castle and more advanced Defense training for the older students. Despite a little grumbling from Mrs. Weasley, both ideas were agreed upon quickly. The meeting was adjourned, and Tonks followed her boss out of the castle.

"Moody?" she asked.

"What?" he barked.

"Shouldn't we arrest that kid?" Moody turned around and stared at her, his glass eye boring into her. "I mean, he did break out of Azakban."

Moody scowled. "I've done a lot for the Ministry over the years, but I refuse to re-arrest a kid just because the Ministry couldn't clean up its own mess. Besides, if I arrest that kid now, Potter will find out and have to break him out again, and he just doesn't have that kind of time on his hands."

Tonks smiled as they reached the castle gates and Apparated back to the Ministry. Never let it be said that Alastor Moody did not have a heart.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, there was no word from Harry or Tess. It wasn't so unusual as Hedwig, a very distinctive owl, had been left at Hogwarts, and there were few other ways to be contacted at Hogwarts. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that Harry and Tess had a lot of ground to cover. Still, Delia couldn't help but worry, and it was starting to show in her bitten fingernails and the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Sean worried in his own way, cracking more and more inappropriate jokes until someone slapped him. Even Daisy, who was practically a cartoon character she was so exuberant, was subdued. If asked, she would simply say that she missed Harry.<p>

The additional Defense training was going well. Delia and Sean assisted the rotating Aurors teaching the class, and substantial progress was being made. If there was attack, the Death Eaters might not be defeated easily, but the students definitely stood a chance. More complex wards were put around the schools around with the new guards, but even those wouldn't hold up if Voldemort attacked with a huge army. Hogwarts had also become the Order headquarters, a fact that was both infuriating and comforting to Delia, Sean, and the Weasleys. Ron certainly did not appreciate having his mom at school after a particularly mortifying query on his underwear.

Another surprise addition to the castle was Harry's Street Rat friends. They were all housed in the Room of Requirements, which was designated as the room students were to be evacuated to if Death Eaters did attack the school. There were some risks in that, but it was vastly an unknown room at Hogwarts. Ralph helped with strategy while Pandora assisted Madame Pomfrey with making sure there would be enough potions and medical supplies to take care of anyone who was hurt in battle. Stephanie and her husband stopped by to deliver ingredients but did not stay as they were needed to help prepare in the event of an attic in the Alleys. Isa proved to be a master of disguise, and she helped train students to blend into their surrounding or to just go unnoticed. Adrianna quickly advanced to the top of the students training, and the other little girls brightened Daisy's mood.

All in all, Hogwarts was preparing for battle because, whether they liked it or not, it was going to happen. They just didn't know when.

* * *

><p>"Wormtail," a voice hissed.<p>

The nervous man came running into the room. "Yes, master?"

"Your arm." Wormtail held out his arm in nervous obedience as Voldemort stuck his arm into the Dark Mark. "It is time."

"Time, my lord?"

"To take Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore down."

"When, my lord?"

"We attack Hogwarts tonight. All my loyal servants have been summoned. Now, we will truly have control."

"My lord, Potter has been reported to have left the school."

"He will return to fight. From what I hear of the boy, he is a typical Gryffindor: stupidly brave. He will come."

"Of course, my lord."

"Go. Bring milk for Nagini." Wormtail scurried out of the room. Voldemort smiled sadistically, his long bony fingers stroking Nagini's head.

"Tonight you die, Harry Potter," he cackled.


	21. The Battle Begins

** Hey! Been a while, hasn't it? So now Harry and Tess are off looking for the last Horcrux while Hogwarts prepares for an attack, but they are looking in the wrong places. Will they figure out the location in time? Will Hogwarts still be standing! Read on to find out! Also, sign the SOPA petition. I don't know the link, but it's all over this website. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am just an eternally addicted fangirl.**

**MuggleCreator: Amen to that, my friend! Don't worry though. Hopefully Tess and Harry will arrive back at Hogwarts just in the nick of time.**

**magitech: Now that would make an interesting omake.. Voldemort dying of rotting ears from listening to the crap in Molly Weasley's howler. I usually like her in canon (most of the time), but it is so much fun to rag on her in fanfiction. It's really like flipping the bird to everyone's overprotective mother. **

**jabarber69: Interesting theory (that as a girl I will try not to be offended by)… Of course, you're operating under the assumption that said girl is modest. If she's not, she'll use the fact you're probably checking her out and drooling to hex you. **

Tess rubbed her hands together, vainly trying to somehow warm them. It was mid-April, and while the days were warm in most places by now, some nights were still bitterly cold. They were in Russia right now, a lead in Moscow leading them to a museum and yet another dead end. It felt like they were just hopping from one pointless lead to another. He never said a word, but Tess could tell Harry was growing frustrated too. They had been a little bit spoiled by staying at Hogwarts: warm beds, good food, safety… It had taken some adjusting to get used to the test again.

Harry was starting a fire, worry lines printed on his face. Tess desperately wished she could wipe them away, stop them from deepening, but she couldn't. No one could at this point. He noticed her watching and smiled sadly. "Cold?" he teased tiredly.

Tess stuck her tongue out at him. "Make my fire, Scarhead!" she shot back.

Harry smirked. "Scarhead? Really? That's the best you can do?"

"Under these circumstances," she replied. Harry didn't say anything else. He got the fire started, and she moved closer to it. "Remember when we used to camp out?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I do," he said. One of their favorite things to do as kids was drag their sleeping bags out into the backyard and set up camp. Phin would make them a fire, and Fiona would set them up with snacks and drinks. Bea's favorite thing to do was wish on shooting stars. Tess always went along with it, but Harry never made a wish.

"I already got my wish," he would always say when Bea insisted he wished too. Right now, he felt like wishing on a shooting star. There were so many things he would wish for: impossible things, sad things…

It was quiet yet again, and Tess wished yet again that Delia and Sean were with them. Sean would crack a joke and make everyone laugh, and Delia was an expert of getting Harry out of his moods. Maybe with one of them, Harry would've made more progress by now. Maybe it was her holding the mission back. Maybe…

"Tess," Harry said flatly.

"Yeah?"

"Stop thinking."

She rubbed the back of her head. "That obvious?"

"You might as well screamed them out loud." Tess looked down at her boots, not wanting to meet her oldest friend's eyes. Harry sighed. "Tess," he said softly. "None of this is your fault. We haven't found anything yet because we haven't had any good leads. That's not your fault."

"But would you have chosen differently?" she prodded, her voice shaky.

Harry shook his head. "I chose you to come with me for a reason. Delia has to think of Daisy. That needs to be her priority. Sean is too reckless. He'd want to do something incredibly stupid, and I'd go along with it because I wouldn't have you to pull me back. You're the only one in this group with any kind of common sense," he admitted.

Tess smiled. "Good to hear," she replied, hoping to change the topic now that she had gotten her answer.

Harry wasn't done yet. "Tess," he said gently, making her meet his eyes. She didn't see the hardened emerald of recent times. Instead, she saw the glowing compassionate ones of the past. "I never regretted bringing you back to Fiona's with me," he said. "Not even for a second."

Tess had to swallow back tears. Things had been rocky for them lately, had been since they arrived at Hogwarts, but she had never wanted to hurt him. She had just wanted him to be happy again and have a break from the worrying and the war. To hear such a strong confirmation of their friendship was very touching. "You're not going to go die on me, are you?" she teased. Harry didn't reply. "Harry?" she asked, now worried.

"I'll do what I need to do," he answered vaguely.

"Would you fight for your life?" Tess probed, needing to know his answer. "I mean, if you were already dying?"

"Honestly?" Harry said. "Probably not. If I was dying and given the choice, I'd probably go. There are too many people up there I want to see, who need me."

"There are people here who need you," Tess insisted, her voice shaky.

"All those people would be fine without me," Harry replied with finality, indicating that the topic was closed. Tess didn't say another word on the subject, but she disagreed with him. So many people wouldn't be okay if she died: herself, Delia, Sean, the Street Rats, Remus, Sirius… The list went on.

They ate their dinner quietly and were preparing to go to bed for the night when Harry heard a noise outside their tent. He clenched his wand tightly and slinked out of the tent, Tess flowing close behind.

What they found wasn't what they expected. A ghost floated outside of their tent. It was a woman that Tess found beautiful but also downcast. She was dressed in grab from around the Middle Ages, but then again that was how most wizards dressed now anyway.

"Who are you?" Harry questioned, suspicion sinking through his voice. "How did you find us?" It was unlikely that the Death Eaters had ghosts as allies now, but he couldn't rule anything out these days.

"I have come to deliver a message," the ghost said. "What you seek is not where you look."

Tess took a closer look at the ghost. "You're from Hogwarts, aren't you?" she realized, seeing something familiar in the spectrum.

The ghosts smiled. "Very good," she praised. "Luna said you were clever."

"Luna? Luna Lovegood?" Harry repeated with his mouth wide open. Tess was tempted to make a quip but was too shocked to enjoy it. "Luna sent you? And you came?"

The ghost nodded. "Luna is kind when others are not," she stated. "She told me you were looking for my mother's diadem, but she didn't think you were having much luck. She asked me to help."

"Your mother's diadem," Tess repeated, mulling things over in her head. Her eyes widened. "You're Helena Ravenclaw."

The sad ghost nodded. "Yes," she replied. "I have not left the castles in many years, but it is time that I righted one of my wrongs."

"What wrong?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Many years ago, a boy came to visit me. I hadn't had a visitor in many years, and he was very charming. Eventually, he asked me where my mother's diadem was. I told him where to find it."

Harry caught onto the end of the story. "His name was Tom, wasn't it Helena?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she replied. "He defiled my mother's diadem with Dark magic. I want you to destroy it."

"We want that too," Tess interrupted frustrated. "But first we need to find it."

The ghost smile wryly. "You are looking in the wrong places," she announced.

Tess raised an eyebrow. "And where should we be looking?" she snapped, nerves and tension running through her.

"In the place where need rules over want," Helena stated. She turned to Harry. "Good luck, Harry Potter." Soon, the Ravenclaw Ghost disappeared, leaving Tess fuming.

"Damn riddle giving Ravenclaws!" she ranted. "Next time Luna sends us help, it better be someone living."

A light bulb had gone off in Harry's head. "Tess," he said confidently. "It's time to go back to Hogwarts."

* * *

><p>It was a relatively peaceful night at Hogwarts. Aurors and Order members stood guard around the perimeter of the school, but so far no threat had appeared. Dinner had just finished , and most students were settling into their common rooms or getting better for bed. An Order meeting was occurring in Dumbledore's office, but the rest of the staff were up to their own devices. Even Peeves was quiet that night. It should have been an omen.<p>

On the very edge of the property, a figure appeared, clothed in darkness. He smiled grimly and gestured to his masked servants. "Attack," he said. Spells were sent in rapid fire towards the castle, breaking down the wards. The alarms went off immediately in the castle, and Hogwarts went into defense mode. Younger students were taken to the Room of Requirement and evacuated to Order safe houses while older students prepared to fight. Order members and Aurors were making plans and implementing tactics, just waiting for the wards to break. Delia and Sean were stationed by the entrance.

Delia's eyes kept darting around, looking for something that wasn't there. Sean grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "They'll be here," he reassured her.

Delia sighed. "I hope so."

"They will be," Sean insisted. "Luna sent them a message. It will be fine."

Delia was about to say something when a familiar voice interrupted. "Sorry, are we late?" Delia turned around to see Harry standing in front of her, tired but smiling. Tess had already made her way to Sean.

"Just in time," Delia said with a smile, leaning in for a kiss.

After a few moments, Harry pulled away. "Let's do this," he said grimly, gripping his wand. It was time to end this.


	22. Heaven and Horcruxes

**Hey! Sorry for the delay. Life, ya know? Anyway, here's the second to last chapter. The battle's raging, Horcuxes are being destroyed, and there's two encounters Harry has to deal with. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but I am superior to movie only Potter fans. Sorry, but it's the truth. **

The battle did not begin with a bang but with a shatter. It took Voldemort and his Death Eaters over two hours to break Hogwart's wards down. Most were surprised at this given the number of talented warders in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's ranks until Dumbledore revealed he had been subtly strengthening the school's protections since Voldemort's return two years ago. Many praised their beloved "Leader of the Light", but as usual Harry saw things another way. Sure, the old goat could put up wards protecting the school for two years, but he never thought to do anything to actively stop Voldemort other than cluck around with the Order of Fried Chicken? It was just one more example of Dumbledore being a manipulative bastard as far as he was concerned.

Regardless of whether or not Dumbledore is indeed a bastard, the wards did eventually shatter, and everyone heard it. Aurors manned their positions in the castle, and everyone got ready to fight. Most if not all of the younger students had been evacuated, but the sixth and seventh years were there to fight. Some of the teachers had protested, but all of them were of age and not willing to just sit idly by.

Harry ran his hands through his hair, one his few nervous quirks. He turned to his friends.

"Okay, Tess and Luna, you need to find the diadem and destroy it," Harry instructed.

"But we don't know where it is!" Tess protested. Luna just smiled mysteriously. "What?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" the girl said dreamily. "Helena said to look in the place where need rules over want." Everyone just stared at Luna. "It's the Room of Requirement."

Tess just looked dumbfounded. Harry laughed. "I should've known," he stated. "Ravenclaws speak in riddles. Go." The two girls ran up the stairs, making their way through the throng of people getting ready to fight. From the sounds coming from the hall, Death Eaters had invaded the castle. There wasn't much time left. "Sean, I need you and Neville to try and kill the snake when Voldemort isn't watching. No matter what, you need to kill it."

Sean didn't like the look in Harry's eyes. "Harry," he said lowly. It seemed like Harry was trying to send all his friends away so he could do something reckless.

Harry didn't acknowledge his friend. Sean just rolled his eyes and followed Neville as they went to help McGonagall blow up the bridge with Seamus, hoping that Delia could somehow convince Harry not to do something epically heroic and stupid.

Delia brushed a piece of hair out of Harry's eyes. He opened his mouth, but she put a finger on his lips. "You better listen to me, Harry Potter. I know what you have to do, and I know it's dangerous, but if you don't do your very best to stay alive I swear that I will resurrect and kill you again myself. Do you understand me?" Despite her fairly convincing threat, there were tears running down her face.

Harry grabbed her hands and kissed them softly, but he said nothing. He couldn't. That wasn't a promise he was sure he could keep, and Delia knew that. She smiled one more time, possibly for the last time.

"I'm going to go help Madam Pomfrey," she said, walking toward the infirmary. Harry watched her go for a moment before deciding to get to the task at hand. A curse flew right by his head, and he turned around. He threw a couple of curses back at the Death Eater, making sure he was knocked out before continuing on.

It was a battlefield within the school. Students and teachers were fighting off Death Eater, and they were doing a pretty good job. Harry saw his friends scattered all over, doing what they could to hold the Death Eaters off. He kept his eyes open for two people in particular: Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. His priority was Voldemort, but he wouldn't mind bringing down the bitch as well.

Sending curses back and forth, Harry was in his element. He didn't mind doing this, fighting bad guys, but he definitely didn't want to do this the rest of his life. He just wanted to finish this, and then if he even survived he'd figure out what to do next.

"Harry Potter, come to die?" a slithery voice crackled, startlingly everyone around him except Harry. Voldemort appeared out of nowhere, Nagini nestled by his side.

Harry smirked as he faced the man he most hated in the world. "Hello, Tom. Ready to finish what we started?"

And then the duel began…

* * *

><p>Tess and Luna walked past the Room of Requirement three times, both chanting in their heads, 'We need to find Ravenclaw's Diadem." The door appeared, and Tess yanked it open. Her eyes widened at the massive amount of stuff piled up to the ceiling. Most people would assume it to be all junk, but years of living with Harry told her differently. They could probably live off the sale of this stuff for five years.<p>

Tess gestured to one side of the room. Luna nodded and took the other side. Both girls whispered Lumos spells and worked their way to the middle of the room. Tess's eyes flinted from pile to pile until she saw something sparkling from top of a pile. She stepped onto a chair and tried to summon the tiara. Unsurprisingly, the Horcrux would not come to her. Instead, she began to climb up the pile and pretended that she was racing Harry and Bea on Fiona's old tree in the backyard. She never won those races (Harry usually did), but she had fun all the same.

She was at the top of the pile in three minutes flat. She grabbed the diadem and shouted, "Luna, I found it!" Hearing nothing, she made her way down the pile and turned around. Luna was being held at wand point by Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.

"Hand it over, blood traitor," Pansy sneered. "Or Loony dies."

"Okay," Tess agreed, her face blank. She started to hand Pansy the diadem, but then she said, "Or I could do this." Pansy and Millicent didn't even have time to react as Tess hexed them and tossed Luna her wand. The two girls started running, the diadem clutched in Tess' hands.

"How are we going to get rid of it?" Tess shouted, dodging a curse sent by Pansy. She regretted not just sending a bone-crushing hex, but at the same time she didn't know if the Ministry would be looking into any of this after the fact and didn't want to risk it.

Luna smiled serenely. "I might have an idea." She took the diadem from Tess, cast the Fiendyre, and threw it at in the fire's direction. Tess's mouth was hung open, and Luna grabbed her arm and started to run. She vaguely heard Pansy and Millicent scream, but she couldn't focus on that. The girls just barely threw themselves out of the door before the fire caught up to them. A terrible hissing sound came through the door.

"Luna," Tess breathed heavily, her heart thumping like crazy. "You've been hanging out with us too much."

Luna smiled dazedly. "That was fun."

Tess laughed. "Yeah, let's do it again."

* * *

><p>Harry and Voldemort threw hex after hex and curse after curse at each other, each dodging and weaving, neither of them landing a spell on the other. All the fighting around them had stopped now, Death Eaters and Order members alike mesmerized by the display of power before them. A few took this stall in fighting as an opportunity to tend to the dead and the injured, but most stood still.<p>

Harry winced as one of the hexes cut his shoulder, having had to dodge two curses at once. Voldemort took advantage of Harry's delayed reaction to send a Killing Curse. Harry saw it coming, but inside of dodging he just sent an old Black family slicing hex at Nagini. His friends would know what to do from there. The curse hit him in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground.

Seconds later, he opened his eyes and found himself in Fiona's backyard. It looked just the way it was before all the bad stuff happened. His tree was still standing proudly, and someone was sitting on his favorite branch. He eagerly climbed up the tree, noticing that there was no pain in his shoulder or anywhere else. It felt good to climb a tree again. He hadn't done so in years.

The girl scooted over once he reached the branch. Harry didn't recognize her, but he noticed she was around his age with pretty blonde hair and eyes that reminded him of Bea's. Wait a minute…

"Bea?" he whispered, his tone soft.

The girl smiled a mega-watt smile, and he just knew. "Hi, Harry," she replied. "I knew you'd come soon."

"Where are we?" Harry asked curiously, looking around. "This place hasn't looked this good in years."

"Well, this is what that old coot of yours would call "the next great adventure". Some people call it Heaven which works too, I guess," Bea explained, gesturing to their surroundings. "It usually takes the form of the place you were the happiest which for you was always in this backyard."

Harry nodded, fingering the bark on the tree. He had never been as happy as he was here. He'd had a family here, a place that was safe, and people who loved him. "Do I have to go back?"

Bea frowned at how tired and broken her best friend sounded. She had been watching him all the time since she was here, and what she saw broke her heart. He put so much responsibility on himself and never took the chance to enjoy life again. "Not if you don't want to," she answered softly, tracing a pattern on his hand like she had when they were kids. "But I think you should."

"Why?" Harry begged. "It doesn't hurt here. Nothing hurts here. I could just stay here with you forever."

"I know," she soothed. "But you still have people down there that love you: Tess, the Street Rats, and even those new uncles of yours… It would be a waste to give them all up over a little pain."

"A little pain?" Harry shouted. "Do you know how hard life's been since you died? Trust me, it wasn't just a little pain."

Bea threaded her fingers through Harry's and squeezed. "I know," she said. "I've been watching this whole time. When I got here, I cried and pleaded to be able to go back with you guys, but that's not how it works. I didn't get a choice."

"But I do?" Harry guessed.

Bea nodded. "And it would be a shame to waste it."

Harry sighed. "Then I guess there's just one thing left to do." Bea raised an eyebrow. Harry kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, Sunshine."

She smiled widely. "Bye, Scamp." Harry climbed down the tree and headed for the path he'd come on. "Harry?" she shouted one last time. He turned around me. "Leave me here this time, okay?"

Harry smiled as he waved. It was time to go back home and face the world. If there was anything left of it…


End file.
